Seabourn vs Windstar

I just went on the Star Breeze and I was disappointed with the quality of the ship. Windstar invested $7.5 million in renovations, I believe, but the ship is rusty and dirty, carpets worn out, dirty windows, water platform in bad shape and the ship needs to be painted. I assume it must have been in worse shape when Windstar acquired it. Other guests commented on these things too. Was it in this poor condition when Seabourn owned it? I imagine it must have been since Windstar just supposedly renovated and improved it. How does Seabourn maintain its current ships. I would like to find a more luxurious cruise line to sail on next that is not astronomically priced but I am worried about sailing on Seabourn after experiencing Star Breeze.

How does Seabourn maintain its current ships. I would like to find a more luxurious cruise line to sail on next that is not astronomically priced but I am worried about sailing on Seabourn after experiencing Star Breeze.

From my experience the ships are constantly maintained and in perfect condition.

I just got off the Quest and I can tell you it was in perfect condition not a scratch on it. One morning I saw a crew member remove the flag from the rear of the ship and spend 45 mins painting the flag pole which to me already looked in perfect condition. On my last cruise I saw the hull being painted while in port in Greece.

The Windstar ships were very old when they were bought and, irrespective of the millions you say were poured into them, are hard to maintain, much less bring up to Seabourn Odyssey class ship standards- all built in/after 2009. Further, you cannot compare the facilities on these old vs new ships.

IMO you won't find a product comparable to Seabourn although you can pay about the same amount of money on Silversea and Regent. Some posters like Crystal which are larger ships. Oceania, also larger, is a lower standard, and is nothing like Seabourn's true all inclusive. (Watch out for the Regent

bait of "free" tours and air- as if people were that gullible.)

Happy sailing!

The Windstar ships were very old when they were bought and, irrespective of the millions you say were poured into them, are hard to maintain, much less bring up to Seabourn Odyssey class ship standards- all built in/after 2009. Further, you cannot compare the facilities on these old vs new ships.

 

IMO you won't find a product comparable to Seabourn although you can pay about the same amount of money on Silversea and Regent. Some posters like Crystal which are larger ships. Oceania, also larger, is a lower standard, and is nothing like Seabourn's true all inclusive. (Watch out for the Regent

bait of "free" tours and air- as if people were that gullible.)

 

Happy sailing!

Great, I appreciate your feedback. I think we will consider Seabourn next. It sounds like their Odyssey class is completely different than the ships they sold to Windstar.

From my experience the ships are constantly maintained and in perfect condition.

 

I just got off the Quest and I can tell you it was in perfect condition not a scratch on it. One morning I saw a crew member remove the flag from the rear of the ship and spend 45 mins painting the flag pole which to me already looked in perfect condition. On my last cruise I saw the hull being painted while in port in Greece.

This is really good to hear. I walked by a Seabourn ship in one of our ports and I also noticed they were painting the hull while in port. I was impressed by that and commented to my husband and friends that that's what Star Breeze needs. I did go up to the ship and ask for a brochure and they very kindly called and asked someone to bring one down. I didn't ask to go in the ship because I assumed that would be inappropriate but I was wishing I could have. I did talk to an experienced Seabourn guest who was sitting downstairs under the Seabourn tent and she said she only sails Seabourn but she did miss the smaller ships. I wonder, did Seabourn maintain the smaller ships well while they owned them or were they starting to show their age and that's why they sold them?

Well for the last 14 years I have cruised exclusively on Seabourn and all but two cruises were on the small ships. I also sailed the final Legend cruise in April before Seabourn turned the ship over. Yes there are some functional issues -- the plumbing system has been plagued for years with problems that are simply not fixable without tearing the entire ship apart. But I have to say these old ladies were always well maintained. In fact on the final Legend voyage the crew was constantly painting and sprucing up the ship. But the real reason many of us, myself especially, loved the little ships was that this small size ship allowed a stellar crew to provide wonderful personal service. Windstar does not have that crew and thus I have no interest in cruising on these ships. But they were never in s terrible state. Seabourn maintained them to the end as well as the new big sisters. What Windstar does or does not do maintenance wise is another issue and I am sure even in a few months a lack of attention would be apparent.

Well for the last 14 years I have cruised exclusively on Seabourn and all but two cruises were on the small ships. I also sailed the final Legend cruise in April before Seabourn turned the ship over. Yes there are some functional issues -- the plumbing system has been plagued for years with problems that are simply not fixable without tearing the entire ship apart. But I have to say these old ladies were always well maintained. In fact on the final Legend voyage the crew was constantly painting and sprucing up the ship. But the real reason many of us, myself especially, loved the little ships was that this small size ship allowed a stellar crew to provide wonderful personal service. Windstar does not have that crew and thus I have no interest in cruising on these ships. But they were never in s terrible state. Seabourn maintained them to the end as well as the new big sisters. What Windstar does or does not do maintenance wise is another issue and I am sure even in a few months a lack of attention would be apparent.

This is good to hear about Seabourn maintaining the small ships until the end. Windstar used to maintain the ships regularly in port too but I didn't see them once doing any maintenance while in port. On the other hand, I walked by a Seabourn ship and they were painting the hull. You are right that the crew makes all the difference and that can't be easily replicated because that reflects the company culture. I noticed the bartenders on Windstar were exceptional because they were all experienced with Windstar but the rest of the crew was recently hired from other mass market lines. However, I must say all the crew on Windstar tried their best to give good customer service and they all work very hard. I am considering switching to Seabourn because of an overall decline in Windstar's quality and service. It's not any one thing but a collection of issues where I noticed small changes. Although the ship maintenance was the biggest problem. I suspect Windstar grew too fast in the last year with a doubling of their fleet. Their ships always sailed full at full price. Now they are sailing 70-80% full at deeply discounted prices. I even saw a recent ad for a cruise starting at $899 for 7 days on the Star Breeze. That was unheard of a year ago!

I paid $999 on the Windstar for a Med cruise several years ago. You just never know when a great price will come up. The cruise to which you are referring is a repositioning cruise, it's almost full, and the prices for those cruises are usually a bargain.

The Star Breeze was the Pride, the first of the triplets Windstar renovated. They made greater improvements on the two subsequent ships, Legend and Spirit. Star Breeze is due to go in for another redo soon so perhaps they are taking it easy on the maintenance before then. Just a guess. Whatever the renovations are though Windstar will never be Seabourn because it's the crew that made those ships so unique, not the ships themselves.

Sorry, but I think you are mistaken. The Spirit is now the the Breeze. Windstar already had a Spirit in their fleet, hence the name change. The Pride is still the Pride.

You are right. My mistake.

I have sailed on both Seabourn and Windstar, and both crews are wonderful. The service is different on both since Seabourn is a "luxury" line and Windstar a lower class, but there are as many "raves" about Windstar crew members as I have seen for Seabourn crew members. I think the main sentiment on this board re Seabourn crew is fond memories of the past, but this should not be interpreted as a negative against Windstar crew members.