Reviewer: Don from Toronto.
Cruise Line: Windstar Cruises.
Ship: Wind Surf.
Destination: Caribbean.
# of Nights: 7.
Departure Date & Ports: January 2016, round-trip from St. Maarten to St. Bart’s, Antiqua, Jost Van Dyke, Soper’s Hole/Tortola, Virgin Gorda.
OVERALL RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Have you been on a small ship cruise before? Yes, many.
Review: A great week cruising around islands we wouldn’t have thought of visiting.
Wind Surf is one of three Windstar sailing yachts. While the other two vessels (Wind Star and Wind Spirit) accommodate 148 passengers each, the Wind Surf holds approximately 300 passengers. The sails are a major feature of these ships and are used as much as possible as long as the weather permits and the destinations can be reached in time. I’ve taken more than 10 cruises with Windstar and consider the service to be excellent with a high passenger/crew ratio. The food is of a very high standard, and passengers have a number of dining options including AmphorA, the ship’s main dining room, Stella Bistro (French cuisine), Candles (situated on the deck —steak, skewers, etc.), The Veranda (breakfast and lunch on the upper deck), and room service. There are three types of staterooms: ocean view, ocean view suites spread over three decks (essentially the size of two ocean view cabins, with two washrooms, as well), and two large ocean view bridge deck suites. Cabins are well-appointed with deluxe toiletries and Bose docking stations, and are configured so that every inch of space is used. The ship has a small pool and a hot tub in the bar area on the rear deck, as well as a watersports platform that is lowered when the ship is anchored off-shore, which was the case for most of this cruise. As with other Windstar yachts, the age of the passengers ranges from the mid-thirties to the early seventies — generally an active group that enjoys exploring the sites, wandering beaches, and doing all the other things you do in the Caribbean. That said, this ship has two elevators, which makes it more accessible than the other two Windstar yachts. A great feature of the Windstar yachts is that they’re small enough to visit ports and islands that can’t accommodate larger ships. Cruising on the Wind Surf is a perfect way to island hop in the Caribbean. On a number of nights we wouldn’t depart in the evening until 11:00 p.m. or so, which allowed us to have dinner on shore or hang out in local beach bars. A great week cruising around islands we wouldn’t have thought of visiting.
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HEIDI SARNA
