Windstar has a bunch of ships, some old, some new. You should specify which one you'd like information about. I was on the Windstar ship (the one with that name). It was 40 years old, the cabins were very small and no elevators. You had to walk outside to get to the restaurant - not a problem unless it was raining. I wouldn't recommend it. But I understand that Windstar has some newer and nicer ships.
I was on the Windstar Windstar last year for the Greece sailing. I agree with Mike that ship has small cabins, and no elevator, though we found no need for the elevator. Parts of the ship are dated and in need of some sprucing up. Some renovation has been done and it is scheduled for another drydock and makeover - check out when if this is the ship you are looking at. Very excellent crew, and the cruise was very informal. @Sealord is the guru on Windstar and no doubt will be chiming in.
If I were Sealord I'd chime in that Winstar is the name of the company while Wind Star, Wind Surf, and Wind Spirit are the names of the ships! While the Windstar sailing vessels are a bit dated, they receive periodic renovations and updates. If your ideal cruising vehicle is one of those ginormous floating hotels with thousands of your closest friends, stage shows, casino, etc., you might be disappointed with Windstar's "Wind" series of ships.
Oh, and Windstar Cruises is part of the Xanterra Travel Collection, a group of global hospitality and travel companies, one of which traces its history back over a hundred years of operating our country’s iconic national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Death Valley, and many others. Xanterra Travel Collection is owned by The Anschutz Corporation
I can't speak for these ships yet, but FolsomDoc really enjoyed their Tauck trip on one of Windstar ships. I hope he will post here when he sees it.
I know that Sealord LOVES the Windsurf the most - he calls it "home." I have been in touch with him about these cruises and we plan to book on the Windsurf/a sailboat basically, (which was very recently renovated). We plan to book Croatia, Greece, Turkey. I'm sure when Sealord sees this post he will chime in. We personally love the water and look forward to the experience. We are NOT huge ocean cruise fans, but love river cruises and think we will love the large sailboat/Windsurf experience. We don't need a large room or elevator. As long as the ports are great and the service and food are good (which Sealord raves about) - we will be happy.
The inquiry does not specify the ship being considered. My husband and I have sailed twice on the Wind Surf and once on the Star Legend. All of the cruises were excellent, but I much preferred the Star Legend - the cabins were more spacious and comfortable.
We sailed from Athens to Istanbul Sept 28 to Oct 6 this year. This was our first Windstar experience and our first small ship cruise. We were part of the Tauck tour, so there were 78 of us among about 280 travelers. We had our own excursions so I can’t comment on the Windstar excursions although people we met seemed happy with those. The ship itself is immaculate. The crew was terrific and many knew us by name by day 2. The food was very good, among the best we’ve had in about a dozen cruises. My wife asked the head chef for some recipes and we received those on debarkation day. We actually favored the MDR. Candles had an excellent veal chop but otherwise did not impress. Cauadro 44 was good but is being replaced. We had a deluxe suite on deck 4. It had no balcony but we were good with that. I made my daily AM trip to the Yacht Club and by day 2 the cappuccinos were in process as soon as the attendant saw my face! Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
The only way to tell who arranges a particular excursion is if they tell you or by who is included. Our day excursion to Ephesus was just Taucktourians, while the dinner at the library of Celsus that evening on Treaures of the Aegean included all passengers and was arranged by Windstar.
We were given little gold Tauck pins to wear on the ship. This was so the staff could recognize us and not charge for drinks, specialty coffees etc. On our first day we (attempted to) attend a review of excursions. The presenter started by saying “I see a few of you with gold pins out there. This meeting is not for you. You will hear about your excursions at your meeting tonight.” He waited for the six of us to leave. Sure enough that night at a meeting with Tauck passengers and the TD’s. The TD’s reviewed all the excursions at each port and they were clear that local guides had been arranged for each. We selected the ones that looked interesting. We also had an opportunity to change the ones we had pre-selected based on input from the TD’s. And, yes, the only excursion we had with the other Windstar passengers was the dinner in Ephesus. That dinner was one of the highlights of the trip.
Comments
Windstar has a bunch of ships, some old, some new. You should specify which one you'd like information about. I was on the Windstar ship (the one with that name). It was 40 years old, the cabins were very small and no elevators. You had to walk outside to get to the restaurant - not a problem unless it was raining. I wouldn't recommend it. But I understand that Windstar has some newer and nicer ships.
I was on the Windstar Windstar last year for the Greece sailing. I agree with Mike that ship has small cabins, and no elevator, though we found no need for the elevator. Parts of the ship are dated and in need of some sprucing up. Some renovation has been done and it is scheduled for another drydock and makeover - check out when if this is the ship you are looking at. Very excellent crew, and the cruise was very informal. @Sealord is the guru on Windstar and no doubt will be chiming in.
If I were Sealord I'd chime in that Winstar is the name of the company while Wind Star, Wind Surf, and Wind Spirit are the names of the ships!
While the Windstar sailing vessels are a bit dated, they receive periodic renovations and updates. If your ideal cruising vehicle is one of those ginormous floating hotels with thousands of your closest friends, stage shows, casino, etc., you might be disappointed with Windstar's "Wind" series of ships.
Oh, and Windstar Cruises is part of the Xanterra Travel Collection, a group of global hospitality and travel companies, one of which traces its history back over a hundred years of operating our country’s iconic national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Death Valley, and many others. Xanterra Travel Collection is owned by The Anschutz Corporation
I can't speak for these ships yet, but FolsomDoc really enjoyed their Tauck trip on one of Windstar ships. I hope he will post here when he sees it.
I know that Sealord LOVES the Windsurf the most - he calls it "home." I have been in touch with him about these cruises and we plan to book on the Windsurf/a sailboat basically, (which was very recently renovated). We plan to book Croatia, Greece, Turkey. I'm sure when Sealord sees this post he will chime in. We personally love the water and look forward to the experience. We are NOT huge ocean cruise fans, but love river cruises and think we will love the large sailboat/Windsurf experience. We don't need a large room or elevator. As long as the ports are great and the service and food are good (which Sealord raves about) - we will be happy.
Looking forward to more posts here.
The inquiry does not specify the ship being considered. My husband and I have sailed twice on the Wind Surf and once on the Star Legend. All of the cruises were excellent, but I much preferred the Star Legend - the cabins were more spacious and comfortable.
We sailed from Athens to Istanbul Sept 28 to Oct 6 this year. This was our first Windstar experience and our first small ship cruise. We were part of the Tauck tour, so there were 78 of us among about 280 travelers. We had our own excursions so I can’t comment on the Windstar excursions although people we met seemed happy with those. The ship itself is immaculate. The crew was terrific and many knew us by name by day 2. The food was very good, among the best we’ve had in about a dozen cruises. My wife asked the head chef for some recipes and we received those on debarkation day. We actually favored the MDR. Candles had an excellent veal chop but otherwise did not impress. Cauadro 44 was good but is being replaced. We had a deluxe suite on deck 4. It had no balcony but we were good with that. I made my daily AM trip to the Yacht Club and by day 2 the cappuccinos were in process as soon as the attendant saw my face! Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
The only way to tell who arranges a particular excursion is if they tell you or by who is included. Our day excursion to Ephesus was just Taucktourians, while the dinner at the library of Celsus that evening on Treaures of the Aegean included all passengers and was arranged by Windstar.
We were given little gold Tauck pins to wear on the ship. This was so the staff could recognize us and not charge for drinks, specialty coffees etc. On our first day we (attempted to) attend a review of excursions. The presenter started by saying “I see a few of you with gold pins out there. This meeting is not for you. You will hear about your excursions at your meeting tonight.” He waited for the six of us to leave. Sure enough that night at a meeting with Tauck passengers and the TD’s. The TD’s reviewed all the excursions at each port and they were clear that local guides had been arranged for each. We selected the ones that looked interesting. We also had an opportunity to change the ones we had pre-selected based on input from the TD’s. And, yes, the only excursion we had with the other Windstar passengers was the dinner in Ephesus. That dinner was one of the highlights of the trip.
I agree with Folsomdoc. We did the dinner at Ephesus on the cruise I took, also, and it was the highlight of the cruise.
https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2024-2Athens-02.htm#EphesusDinner