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Windstar - FAQs - All you need to know



Search the World's Largest Cruise Database for all scheduled Windstar voyages.

View the current lowest prices, all unsold cabins, and the cost of all available upgrades.

Want to know if you should book now or can afford to wait? The number of unsold cabins remaining is the best indicator of whether prices may rise or fall. The cruise lines have long hidden this mission-critical data, which you will not find anywhere else. If you don't understand the numbers - ask us for advice.




Vibe:

Stylish but chilled and relaxed.


Signatures:

  • All meals - including specialty dining

  • Deck parties

  • Signature shore events

  • Ultra small ships - two fleets

  • Experts in Tahiti - The cheapest option of the two lines based in Tahiti

  • Aft water sports marina

  • Sail Away - Signature music and deck parties


Good to know:

  • Many Windstar ships were initially built for Seabourn, meaning you get a full suite instead of a smaller standard cabin.

  • This affords the unique opportunity to experience a product that is very similar to a high-end product at a much lower price.

  • We would never ordinarily recommend older ships; however, Windstar has spent millions on interior redesign and refurbishment.

  • They look and feel like brand-new ships.

  • One signature left over from the Seabourn days is the aft watersport marina, one of the best features on any ship, especially if you are cruising warm climates like the Med or Tahiti.

  • They have two fleets:


Boutique Sailing Yachts 150-220 pax

  • Smaller cabins, all ocean view



Traditional cruise ships 300 pax

  • All suite 

  • Separate bed and lounge areas

  • Walk in robes

  • Extra large picture windows in ocean-view cabins

  • French balconies only



New ships

  • Two new builds will enter the fleet over the next two years.

  • These will be spectacular and really will be at a true 6-star level

  • The new ships were originally going to be built for Atlas and are identical to their current fleet.

 

What’s Not Included:

  • Tips

  • Wifi

  • Open Bar/Mini Bar

  • Taxes

  • Excursions


Booking tips:

Upgrade your cruise. For only $89 p/p per day, you get:

  • Full open bar

  • Mini Bar

  • Tips paid

  • Wifi

  • This equates to a nominal value of about $150 p/p per day.


Demographic Best Suited To:

  • There is a generally younger crowd than the high-end 6-star brands, with many people trying a smaller ship operator for the first time. Once they do, they invariably can't go back to bigger ships.

  • Kids will be happy if they enjoy fancy hotels and resort pools. Port-intensive itineraries such as the Med and Tahiti should keep most entertained. But ships are definitely not suitable for kids to run around on.


Closest Competition and How They Differ:

  • Windstar is closest to Azamara in terms of product, quality, and pricing. Both sit firmly between large mid-range cruise lines and the higher-priced 6-star brands.

  • Azamara, at 700 pax ships, feels considerably larger, whereas Windstar always feels super boutique and exclusive. Like your own private super yacht.

  • Oceania is also considered 5.5 stars but has bigger, more traditional cruise ships.

  • The closest step up would be to Seabourn

  • The closest step down to a mid-range line would be to Celebrity.


The Windstar Fleet


Click through to be taken to the specific page for each ship on the Silversea website, including photos and videos of all cabin categories, public areas, restaurants, and deck plans.


Traditional cruise ship fleet - All suite ships

Predominately ocean view with extra large picture windows

A limited number of French balconies, you can open the door but there is no room to stand


Sailing Yacht Fleet - cabins are smaller and all ocean view with port holes, no balconies


Video:


Photos:


Tahiti
Signature - Sail Away
Windstar have spent a fortune to make their ships like new

Facebook post from January 2025


People are always asking, what’s my favourite cruise line?


That’s a bit like trying to pick the best airline. Is it Emirates? Singapore? Qatar?

I’m not one of those rusted on to one brand or another. You miss out on some of the best soft centres in any box of chocolates if you only stick to your long-time favourites.


I should add quickly that I’m no snob when it comes to cruising, and I can be just as happy on a quality mid-range line like Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. Occasionally, a unique itinerary or price point will see me choosing these brands over a 6-star option.

That being said, it may surprise you that one of my favourite cruise lines worldwide is not a top-tier 6-star one.


Windstar is a truly exceptional line and a bit of a rare bird. She sits snugly between quality mid-range 5-star brands and the hoity-toity lardy-da ones with free-flowing French champagne, caviar, and white-glove butlers.


So why is Windstar rated 5.5 stars? What’s the difference?

In some respects, it’s a bit like being half pregnant.

In this case, it’s mostly historical.


Seabourn and Regent were two of the first true 6-star brands with a fleet of purpose-built ships.


About 30 years ago, at the same time that Royal Caribbean started pushing the envelope to experiment with the forerunners of their 10,000-person mega-ships, a few brands such as Seabourn, Regent, and Silversea decided to go the other way and chase well-heeled and wealthy clientele.


They set out to build smaller, more boutique ships with a footprint three to four times larger, featuring suites instead of cabins. Instead of 2,000-3,000 people, their new brood was smaller and sassier, with a capacity of 150 to 200 guests.


Seabourn especially introduced revolutionary features such as walk-in robes, extra-large picture windows, and remarkable water sports marinas at the rear of each ship.

As an aside, Cunard used to hold the crown as the only choice for the rich and famous for well over a century. No one could touch their impeccable white-gloved pedigree and royal credentials, which go way back to White Star Line and their infamous ship, Titanic.


But then Cunard made one of the most colossal mistakes in marketing last century—they looked at the economies of scale of Royal Caribbean, and the accountants convinced the board that bigger would be better. This spelled the demise of their gracious and grand ocean liners, only to be replaced by huge ships resembling cattle carriers while trying to pretend that nothing had changed and they were still a first-class player. Something next to impossible with 3,000 people.


And the rest is history, as was their first-class reputation.


Today, they remain a poor substitute for bygone glamour. They sit very firmly within the mid-range 5-star bracket. They gave it all up and let the new brash upstarts eat not only their grass but also their cream.


Fast-forward 10-15 years after the launch of these new all-suite ships, and the 6-star market started to morph into something much bigger and more valuable than they had ever imagined. Seabourn and Regent needed to capitalize on the massive demand, so they ordered larger ships with capacities between 450 and 600 passengers.


Windstar, in a super smart play, swooped in and snapped up these much-loved ships for bargain prices, which allowed them to start a new line both cheaply and quickly.

Consequently, Windstar offers ships that look and feel like their much more expensive cousins—simply because they share ancestral DNA.


Those who have sailed with Seabourn will instantly recognize signatures preserved across both brands, such as the central curved staircase, water sports marina, oversized picture windows, walk-in robes, and marble bathrooms.


If you’ve never sailed a 6-star ship before, Windstar offers you the chance to cruise on one at prices close to or lower than mid-range brands. I like to think of them as 6-star for beginners or a bridge between the mainstream brands and the rarefied high-end operators.


Ordinarily, I warn people off older ships. More than any other product or commodity, ships age incredibly fast due to the harshness of salt air and how hard they work. Ships tend not to age gracefully or, for that matter, slowly. Windstar, however, has taken great care to maintain its ships mechanically and aesthetically to the highest standards.

That sounds like marketing drivel, but this is me talking, not their PR machine. I’ve never seen signs of wear and tear on Windstar, whereas P&O appear happy for their fleet to sail with rust clearly apparent.


Gorgeous, beautiful Windstar has never looked, and more importantly, never smelled like a dirty old ship, unlike others.


Their most recent refurbishment program has been monumental in scope and cost and has been the most intensive in the industry. There is one notable 6-star brand that is one of the most expensive afloat that is renowned for doing quick and cheap refurbishments which are only cosmetic, where only the carpets and drapes are replaced, and old tub chairs (did anyone actually like these back in the 80s?) are re-upholstered, not replaced.


Not Windstar. They have stripped all their ships back to the bare metal. With their traditional cruise ships, they went even further and actually cut them in half, removed the old engines, and installed new ones, along with 100 new cabins and additional dining options.


Some of the Windstar ships are true sailing vessels with an evocative set of sails.

These are the last of their fleet to have a full facelift, and once again, Windstar has not scrimped. They have spent a fortune. And as these stunning new photos show, these more mature ladies will give the current-day, much younger debutants a good run for their money.


I have been taken by how stylish and innovative some of these new spaces are, and in some respects, they look sharper and more luxe than the most expensive brands on the high seas.


As the last of their fleet returns from the surgeon's knife, Windstar is gearing up to reinvent themselves again and make another super smart play, similar to how they started out.


About 5 years ago, Atlas was the first new six-star brand to launch in the last 30 years. They burst onto the scene with a fleet of simply stunning expedition ships of only 200 passengers. This was a gutsy move, but they knew the rewards would be substantial if they could break into the old boys' club of high-end cruising. Tragically, they launched at the worst possible time, just before the industry shut down for two long years.


Somehow, Atlas remarkably managed to survive, and despite facing some early service issues, they are now a true first-class alternative to the old, staid brands.

However, those first few crippling years with no income left them a long way from where they had expected to be by now.


Consequently, to proceed to commission the full fleet of 5 ships they had ordered would have been one stretch too far. Windstar, repeating their play from when they were born, again swooped in and purchased the last of these two Atlas ships, which had yet to be built.


The first one arrives next year, and another the year after that.


I’ve seen the Atlas ships firsthand, and they are not just state-of-the-art; they are in every way as good, in some respects even a step above Seabourn and Ponant. This will see Windstar lift their game yet again and could potentially see them joining the hallowed ranks of their 6-star brethren.


When I feature a particular cruise line, it is often strategic, and so is the case today.

This week, Windstar became an online vendor, which means that when our website launches in January, you can view all unsold cabins, price upgrades, book, and pay online.


Despite their phenomenal product and lower price points, we have not promoted them heavily. That will change next year with this new online capability.

So pack your bags.


Expect to see deals close to or below $2000 for peak season in the Med or their home turf in Tahiti, where they have home-ported a ship year-round for the last two decades.

They are one of only two that do, the other being Paul Gauguin, who are generally 3-4 times more expensive for an almost identical experience.





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