Star Legend Review

Posted a review of our Star Legend med cruise; couldn't say enough good things about it. As mentioned in my review, we have cruised Windstar 5 times (through 3 different owners); we are Windstar fans, but it also means we know what the experience should be like.

Our cruise didn't disappoint; everything was up to the previous level of service that we have experienced before.

I am sorry that some other reviewers did not have as positive an experience as we did (but happy ours went so well :). Even the weather co-operated.

Good info, thanks. With all the poor reviews we were getting a bit nervous about making the final payment.

Your review may not go up right away, the moderators review them before they get posted. Will keep an eye out for it.

Did the ship still feel understaffed, or does that appear to have been corrected (as was implied recently by the CEO)?

So nice to hear

We're going 12/12 from San Juan on pretty much same itinerary as we've done twice on the Surf. Prefer the San Juan departure so we can do non stop flights. Glad to read your good experience. Thanks for posting.

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Did the ship still feel understaffed, or does that appear to have been corrected (as was implied recently by the CEO)?

Certainly no lack of staff attention, but the cruise was only about 67% full (it was the last of the season from Rome to Barcelona - the ship moves on to Lisbon, Canary Islands and then over to Caribbean).

Thanks for posting. We are booked to cruise on the Legend next October for our 40th Anniversary.

I was also getting worried about the poor reviews, but curious as to how a former Seabourne ship which got very good reviews could suddenly be 'poorly maintained' etc overnight, particularly after a refurbishment?

I am now reassured, particularly as you have cruised Windstar before, as we have.

Thanks again!

Thank you Snow cat, I look forward to reading your review. I have also been concerned about the negative reviews as of late and a bit perplexed and I am so looking forward to our trip on the Star Breeze on 12/5. We have done 18 cruises WS, we are adventurous, independent travelers, some of our best trips and certainly our best vacations ( I make a distinction between a trip and a vacation ) with and without friends and family have been with WS. Some of the reviews I really do not understand. I am relieved to know that as past WS cruisers you have enjoyed the new motor yachts. We are not wealthy, we love fine, pure quality, imaginative tasty food, for us WS is luxury without being ostentacious, the service is beyond excellent, we have always felt the ships have been well taken care of and impeccably clean, we love the informal and the small, for us it has always been perfect even when things might go a bit wrong for that is life. So, we were happy to read this and are doubly excited. Happy Cruising. Susanne

Thank you Snow cat, I look forward to reading your review. I have also been concerned about the negative reviews as of late and a bit perplexed and I am so looking forward to our trip on the Star Breeze on 12/5. We have done 18 cruises WS, we are adventurous, independent travelers, some of our best trips and certainly our best vacations ( I make a distinction between a trip and a vacation ) with and without friends and family have been with WS. Some of the reviews I really do not understand. I am relieved to know that as past WS cruisers you have enjoyed the new motor yachts. We are not wealthy, we love fine, pure quality, imaginative tasty food, for us WS is luxury without being ostentacious, the service is beyond excellent, we have always felt the ships have been well taken care of and impeccably clean, we love the informal and the small, for us it has always been perfect even when things might go a bit wrong for that is life. So, we were happy to read this and are doubly excited. Happy Cruising. Susanne

Susanne - I look forward to your review when you return.

I haven't been on Seabourn, Amazara or Oceania so I freely admit I can't comment on how the WS service etc. compares to them; I can only compare to other WS cruises I have taken and there was no difference.

We did miss the sails at sail-away!

Thank you for taking time to post, SnowCat.

We are set to sail on our first WS cruise on the Legend on December 5. Like others, I have been concerned with the negative reviews, which caused me to question our decision to try WS.

It is very reassuring to hear about your positive experience!

We are booked on the Canary Islands to Lisbon cruise in April, hoping the ship will compare favourably with the original yachts and that any issues will have been sorted out.

Here's a Star Legend review I posted on the Q&A thread with Windstar CEO. I don't understand the negative reviews of the Star Legend. That certainly wasn't the experience we enjoyed! Go for it -- book a Windstar powered yacht cruise. :)

"Wife & I were on the inaugural cruise of the Star Legend back in May, Rome to Barcelona. We greatly enjoyed the experience! Sometimes slow in service in the dining areas, but "birthing pains" as the capt said in his cruise review at the end.

We felt the cuisine was excellent, service great, refurb'd so you wouldn't know it was a 23-year-old ship! We had a French balcony cabin that was very nice. Liked the cruise experience and ship so much, we booked the Legend for next July, cirumnavigating Iceland.

We've been on 45 cruises, mostly on the small luxury and near-luxury lines (I'd consider Windstar in the latter category, along with O and A). Do try Windstar's cruising vessels."

Here's a Star Legend review I posted on the Q&A thread with Windstar CEO. I don't understand the negative reviews of the Star Legend. That certainly wasn't the experience we enjoyed! Go for it -- book a Windstar powered yacht cruise. :)

 

We have taken 8 or 9 Windstar cruises and based on prior cruises have certain expectations for Windstar. We were on the Reykjavik to Copenhagen cruise and were very disappointed. Best example was the "fresh" fish that was served one night. The "fresh" halibut was VERY dry. We, along with some other cruisers, asked the chef what happened with the halibut. The chef said that he ALWAYS overcooks fresh fish because when you buy fresh fish overseas it does not have the quality controls that fresh fish in the US does. One restaurant owner even asked if they could sign a "waiver" in order to have the fish cooked properly. The answer was a resounding NO. Other nights in the main dining room we had to wait over 20 minutes to get served bread and butter and to have the server ask if we had questions about the menu.

Another negative thing was that the bars were not staffed much of the time. An example was the Star Bar and Yacht Club shared the same, single person, staff. This meant that if the person was tending bar, there was no one in the Yacht Club.

This is not the type of service that we were used to having on Windstar. It could be that the problems are Legend specific due to the staff that they hired for this ship. I know at least some of the senior staff came from "mass market" ships. Do hope that Windstar takes action to improve the service quality on the Legend. But in the meantime, we will be looking at other lines for our future cruises.

Hope this helps you understand why you are seeing so many negative reviews of the Legend.