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Windstar Cruises

5 Ways I Was Blown Away On My Windstar Cruise

Last week I had an opportunity to take a cruise on a small sailing yacht, with Windstar Cruises, through the Caribbean.  I love the Caribbean, and have visited over 15 islands, but always spent my time in one place, on land, but now I’ve found a new way to experience my favorite region of the world and see it from a completely different, and almost more amazing, perspective – from the sea.

I had never been on a cruise before – so I approached this trip as a learning exercise – to see what so many people, and many of my clients, found so appealing about this type of vacation.  I had never really considered a cruise previously, as I had always thought I was not the cruise-type (whatever that is).  My vision of a cruise was something that I had conjured up over a number of years.  So why was I so resistant to this type of vacation? I can only say it was due to some silly, preconceived notions that have now been totally disproved (late bloomer, I suppose).

To say the least, I was blown away with the whole Windstar Wind Surf experience – Why? Let me count the ways:

I picked the right cruise line and ship for me. I liked the appearance of the Windstar portfolio of ships.  They were relatively small and sleek. What I experienced on the Wind Surf and learned as a travel advisor is that with the right combination of cruise line, ship and passenger, it can be a wonderful vacation.  My cruise was on Windstar’s largest ship, the Wind Surf, which can accommodate 310 passengers and 6 decks.  Windstar operates six additional ships, two of which are sailing yachts like the Wind Surf, and three of which are motor yachts.  I look forward to sailing on the line’s smaller yachts, the Wind Star and Wind Spirit, each with capacity for 148 guests.  Star Pride, Star Breeze and Star Legend are motor yachts, each accommodating 212 guests.  The Wind Surf was small enough  so that I felt a personal level of service, but large enough to offer enough variety of venues for relaxing, dining, sunbathing and reading.

The Windstar Wind Surf

The itinerary was right for me. I chose the Wind Surf because I wanted the convenience of departing from a port that was easy to get to in a few hours, which led me to Windstar’s Caribbean destinations, where I found an itinerary that really appealed to me:  round trip for seven days from St. Maarten, to Antigua, Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, and St. Barth’s.   Because I was very familiar with the Caribbean, my first would contain at least the familiarity of destination, and this part of the Caribbean was almost like my backyard.

 You can have luxury and excellent food.  What I also found is that the ships can be luxurious, with super-comfortable accommodations, excellent food, and great service.  We had plenty of dining options, the food was delicious, and the service was attentive and professional.  In fact, by day one most of the staff new our names, how we took our coffee and what we liked to drink in the afternoons/evenings.  Our stateroom, a suite, was a spacious 386 square feet and well-appointed.  My friend, Beth, and I each had our own bathroom, with granite counters, magnifying make-up mirrors and a shower with plenty of water pressure. There was room to really move about, with a sitting area and two separate areas with identical closets, desks, bathrooms and even two TVs (although we never turned them on).  We returned in the evening to beds that had been turned down with a different towel animal greeting us each night.

Seeing the Caribbean from the sea is a wonderful, new view point. The panoramas were gorgeous and I was given a new perspective on how beautiful the region is. I never grew tired of sitting or standing on deck and watching the landscape go by as each island we passed had its own beauty and, collectively, they are quite majestic.

A great opportunity to meet new friends. We met some of the nicest people on our cruise – and found many reasons to get together for excursions, for drinks, for the daily trivia game and, on the next-to-last evening, a game of “name that tune”, which was so much more fun than I ever thought it could be!

Would I do it again?  Absolutely – I expect that I will be a return guest on Wind Star cruises, as over 60% of those who were on our ship were, and I can now see why.