Started as Windstar Sail Cruises with the first three ships coming on line in 1987, 1988 and 1989, the company did not make a profitable venture and was entirely taken over by Holland America Line by 1988, both of which subsequently came under the Carnival Corporation banner. Then in 2007, Windstar Cruises, the “Sail” having been dropped years ago, was bought by Ambassadors International, owners of Majestic America Line and also Seattle-based.
Fleet
The original trio, Wind Song, Wind Spirit and Wind Star with
similar accommodations for 148 passengers, lost one member (Wind Song) in 2003
when the Tahiti-based Wind Song had a fire and was scuttled. Prior to that, in
1997 Windstar bought the much larger 308-passenger Club Med I and combined some
of the original cabins to make suites. Club Med, for the time being, retains
the sistership. The three Windstar ships are sail-assisted motorships where the
sails unfurl by the touch of a button on the bridge.
Itineraries
The seven-day cruises operate mostly to Caribbean and Mediterranean ports with one ship positioned on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. Positioning
voyages provide plenty of sea time under sail, even if the sail are not adding
much propulsion.
Dining and Decor
The food is a draw and it is often served in an attractive
indoor-outdoor setting on the top deck. One dinner, weather permitting, will take
place around the pool under the stars. Usually dinner only is served in the
dining room, resembling an oversized wood-paneled sailing ship saloon.
Programs
Cruises are largely unstructured, destination-oriented in
the Mediterranean, with more emphasis on watersports and beach activities in
the Caribbean, and nature and wildlife in Costa Rica.
Onboard Experience
People of ages 40 and up who might not otherwise take to big
ship cruise will enjoy the outdoor experience, casual dress, the easy social
life, and the relaxed destinations. Veteran Windstar cruisers also take to the
two-week transatlantic positioning crossings with day after day alone at sea, a
veritable floating house party.
Competitors
The Wind Star ships provide a romantic cruise, like Sea
Cloud and Star Clippers, and offer more comfortable accommodations and
considerably better food and service than the latter.
