I Cruise The World's "Most Popular" Small Ship Line: Windstar

We LOVE Windstar - everything you said was spot on. We did our first in 2021 and are presently booking one for this coming summer.

Sounds good but for my lovely wife, food allergies/restrictions are VERY important. Twice burned on RCCL, we feel quite "safe" with DCL . . . but/still open to other lines especially if they can take us on new itineraries to Canada, South America and/or Mediterranean.

Way to expensive

I think this would suit me. I have no interest in onboard activities or "shows". I just want interesting stops.

I like cruising with 1000 passengers or less, preferably less.

I’ve been cruising since the Ile de France and Queen Elizabeth, and we settled on Windstar as our favorite cruise line. We’ve always made friends, and have had repeats with many of the excellent crew members. We have 48 Windstar cruises under our belts including transatlantic repositioning cruises, and love the more freeform, less frenetic pace, the smaller places they visit. (There has been a casino, just forward of the Compass Rose starboard side.) Windstar is not for everyone, but they have a committed audience.

Sounds like a cruise I might try. I have never wanted to do a cruise because it sounds too regimented. This one sounds great.

Other than QM2, I prefer smaller ships. Unfortunately, the smaller ships that I have sailed on are gone. ie Britanis, Dolphin etc.

Ahh Mayreau part of St. Vincent & the Grenadines my home country. Not many would have heard of Mayreau, Union Island, Bequia etc. I am intrigued with Windstar

Best choice for MIDDLE Age group , just a full pleasurable Voyages

I think I wold like you videos, but have no idea why your audio is SO LOW?!?! I max my volume on my speakers and cannot hear half of what you say.

This would be perfect for me!!!

I love this so much! All these negatives are totally what I am seeking. I can’t wait to try it. Wouldn’t mind trying a French or another culturally focused small ship too.

I love a relaxing sea day to just draw, water colour, read, or work out

Groovy video, very imformative.

YIU GOTTA BE A PANE IN AZZ TRAVELLER

Getting back to basics is the way to go.

For me there is only one downside, and that's the mandatory shared tables. I'm not anti-social, but I am anti forced socialization. I'd say its almost a deal breaker for me, even though the rest sounds fine to me.

So first let me say we have traveled to 96 countries, sometimes by ship. The best experiences have been on smaller destination type ships. Windstar had expanded over the years to include additional ships. If you like meeting educated well traveled individuals than this is your kind of fellow travelers.The ships are small enough to go where the mega ships can't. The crew to guest ratio is excellent . Crew members become more like family or friend.Soon to depart on an Iceland, Greenland,Labrador to french Canada trip. Fourth time to the arctic.Ready to go!

Ok after getting a few minutes in and reading some of the comments I had to go check out their website. I just might get to do a Panama Canal sailing. They have some affordable trips and I might even get to do one as a solo traveler. Thank you! This sounds like my cup of tea.

The average age appeared to be much higher than I saw on the one and only mega ship I've been on. Since you mentioned the port activities were quite active, how well do they cope with guests in wheelchairs?

Thanks for an interesting review.

Does those 3 ships show their age? They are quite old.

The only time I was on a ship for several days was when I was 13 years old and my family was moving back to the USA from France and my parents decided we would do a transatlantic ship! We took the
SS France and and as I recall there was a movie theater and a couple pools but I don't remember their being casinos and what not. The ship was decommissioned a few years after, sadly.

For me I don’t need a casino or need to be entertained in the evenings and the wind star is perfect size. Have been on Three of their cruises.

Thanks for the informative review. Pronunciation is kwa-dro, meaning room :)

When we went on the MSC World Europa, which is on the opposite scale to this, it was very American focused. I found this off putting as it almost felt like we were out of place and less important 🤷‍♀️

I was dragged on to my first Windstar cruise kicking and screaming, this was a cruise my wife had planned without any input from me, my own fault, I told her I don't care, we just need a vacation. Due to my fathers past profession, I have a special relationship with Carnival and RCL, so we tend to stay with the brands in those families. So stepping on to a Windstar ship was, well strange. It took me a few hours to figure it out, but, the thing is, the ship is just so relaxed. The crew reminds me of the pre Carnival Holland America, very detail orientated, but, very approachable as well. We've sailed on all the small ship lines, and honestly, it's down to Windstar and Sea Dream. Sea Dream of course being a whole different price point.

The only negative I can find is the breakfast buffet, it seemed to be on a two day menu rotation, so not as bad as Carnival, but some variety would be great. If you are looking to lower your blood pressure, go for it, you won't be disappointed.

I did a 14 day Greek Isle and Dalmation Coast cruise on a Windstar sailing ship and absolutely loved it for all of the positive reasons mentioned and many of the negative as well. I have been on the bigger cruises that go to ports every other cruise ship goes and quite frankly didn't like the experience of being in a port with four or more other large cruise ships. In the Caribbean, each ship has its own neon color stickers that passengers wear to keep them from getting on the wrong bus or ship. I am also a solo traveler so maybe that had something to do with it. I wasn't up for the shows or dancing, and I don't gamble. The stuff they sell is overpriced and the shore activities are also packed with hundreds of people going to the same tourist spots hundreds of people from the other ships in port go. If that is what you like then the larger ships are for you. If you have kids then the larger ships have many more activities for them which allows the parents to have a vacation too which is nice. One of the things not mentioned in this video about larger cruise ships is that frequent passengers get perks like first off the ship privileges in ports so if you are not one of them you have to wait to get off. In the final analysis, if you are looking for a ship that is an entertainment experience then the larger ships are best, or even the smaller luxury ships if you can afford them, but if you are looking for a personalized, comfortable mode of transportation to experience different ports or places then the small cruise ships can't be beat. There is just something about walking around in a beautiful place without being surrounded by throngs of other tourists. JMHO.

No shows in the evening would be a bonus for us!

Seems more like a private yacht. I like it

So this cruise line is for people that want to visit interesting ports and eat good food. The rest of the ship is basically a floating hotel. Sounds boring to me, but if that is what you want, it is good that there is a line that suits you.

Interesting that he doesn’t like sea days yet he has crossed the Atlantic many times. No port calls there.

Try Hebridean Princess. 45 passengers. All inclusive. Top notch food and service. Also, Sea Dream. <100 passengers, all inclusive, great food, fabulous service.

I could listen to ABBA every night

Yeah, I think I would like this for a port intensive itinerary. Entertainment is overrated unless it's a repositioning cruise with sea days. Gary, the video you pointed to at the end didn't appear.

Anyone know my best and cheapest way by ship to europe, anywhere in Europe. tks

Try SILVERSEA, they have small/smaller ships but the service and overall experience is the best in the world !

Your comments haven’t out me off sailing French Polynesia with Windstar but I think your comments about making sure it is a port intensive trip make sense to me. Usually the ship is very much the destination for me though. Thanks once again for your varied coverage.

I REALLY do enjoy, your uploads and think you are doing a great job!

But don’t you do ANY research at all? How can you be surprised about the small balcony, the high day trip prices, the basic entertainment..? Even I do my research better then you. I personally don’t think, one has a right to “complain” if one has not even done the bare minimum, prior to departure.

Sounds like Viking. Just disembarked. One month with not much to do - certainly nothing that appealed to me.
And also very American focussed

We are going on our 8th Wind Star cruise this October in Greece. Love them!

Do you think you would have enjoyed this small ship more if you had a companion with you?

Looks like a floating shopping mall.

Thanks for the review on small ships cruising, it looks like their key note passengers are those who have already experienced the big ships and are looking for more exclusive treatment.

Cruise sounds amazing, seems like you tried to find some negatives but struggled to do so. I personally don’t need to be entertained.

300 passengers is not my idea of small and I hate sharing …..

All the negatives sound like positives to me. I don't understand cruising anyway. All the things offered up by ships can be had on land at a fraction of the cost. And what's the point of visiting a place if you've only got eight hours to, at best, scan the place? Maybe on a really tiny ship--30 to100 passengers at most and be able to dock just about anywhere. Uncruise?

What’s the point ?

Thanks for this vid! To be honest: I would prefer a ship without evening shows. They always seem too loud and too agitated to me, I don't like them at all. So, no shows is a positive thing for me!

I didn't know cruise ships this small even existed. Thank you for introducing!! As an introvert, this would probably be fine for me. It would just be many more laps around the deck to walk off the food!!!