Life aboard Wind Spirit

Prior to this cruise, we had been on four other cruises. One with Princess (Jade Princess), one with NCL (Jewel), and two with Celebrity (Millennium and Solstice).  These were all big ships (though not quite as big as some of the mega ships afloat). So during this holiday we wanted to try something different, looking at river cruises and the smaller cruise lines. We found the Wind Spirit that would fit into our travel plans.

The Wind Spirit was built in 1988 (by far the oldest cruise ship we have ever been on) and can have 148 passengers and 84 crew. Reading ahead of time, we knew that there would be a few things different from our previous cruises. First, there would be few families and if there were any, they were older teenagers or college kids, but even then those would be rare. These cruises cater to adults only. But also contrary to other cruises, because there are no handicapped cabins and no lifts in the boat, the older passengers set would also be absent, essentially leaving mature active couples and maybe a couple of honeymooners. Also, we read were absent many of the trappings of larger cruises, like art actions, bingo, evening theatrical performances, etc. Realistically the only thing we were going to miss was no daily trivia.

The tag line for the cruise line is 180° from Normal and even before we boarded, we noticed that it was going to be different. We had some issues processing the payment for our cruise, which was the challenge of using a US debit card with a UK address. We have run into the issue a few times and it was no big deal but because of some confusion and a customer service agent sort of upset at a coworkers rather terse “either pay or else” semi threat during the booking process, she gave us some on board credit before we even showed up. We weren’t upset, but proactive customer service from the start seems to abound with Windstar.

First Impressions

Instead of like the big cruise ships, where boarding is a huge pavlova, with a big boarding area with huge queues of people snaking through a non-air conditioned departures terminal, with some semblance of “how important you are” by giving you a number and being processed through. After a couple experiences with that on big cruise ships we had learned to check in as late as reasonable hoping to avoid the masses.

Because we weren’t arriving on a cruise organised flight, we got our own transfer to the terminal, arriving at about 20 minutes after they started the boarding process. As we approach, two guys took our bags and shuttled them down to the end of the pier. I guess dragging our bags down the pier was just “too much” work for us passengers. We went through port security and then arrived at the dock, pointed out our bags so they could be tagged and boarded the ship. We were ushered into The Lounge, where the check-in process is done. We had paperwork to fill out, all while drinking our welcome drink, and probably the most hectic part of the cruise, standing in a queue to be checked in. Because pretty much everyone on the boat showed up in the same 30 minute window, it was a little bit crowded, but nothing more than we had experienced on other cruises so we thought nothing of it.

After we were checked in, we were escorted (yes, escorted) to our cabin by one of the stewards. He happened to not be the steward who was assigned to our room and apologised for ours being busy and proceeded to show us all the features of our room.

The cabins are smaller than what you would typically find on a bigger cruise ship, but the cabins are really well designed with lots more interesting ways to fit in a huge amount of storage and laid out in the way that doesn’t feel overly cramped at all. Also interesting is that outside of the owner’s suite, all the cabins are exactly alike. All ocean views, spread out over only two decks.

Life on Board

Bigger ships you can easily get lost in. Some ships we were on would have like 7 or more bars, 10 different eating experiences, several pools, etc. The Wind Spirit has two bars (The Lounge and The Pool Bar) and depending upon the meal, only one or two places to have it. Light breakfast is served at The Pool Bar and a full breakfast at The Veranda (which are on Deck 4, next to each other). Lunch is served in The Veranda. Dinner is in the main dining room Amphora but there is what you might call “specialty” dining up on deck at what they call Candles. There is no surcharge for dining at Candles though seating is relatively limited. It has a fixed menu (except for the fish and vegetarian dishes).

Both breakfast and lunch are a combined buffet and cooked to order menu. Both the buffet and the cook to order menus change slightly every day, bringing a lot of variety. The main dining room menu changes daily with all sorts of interesting dishes. I would say the food is top notch for a cruise line. Especially with the fresh seafood that is often incorporated in the menu. While in the main dining room the starters often have the sort of “banquet” preparedness to them, the main courses always feel freshly prepared when you ordered them, unlike the big ships where the main course are prepared in batches and feel a bit banquety.

The most stark difference though has to be the level of service. While service on a cruise ship is often exceptional, on the Wind Star it is taken to a new level. From the very first few hours, the two front desk staff had learned our names and continued to refer to us by name every time you might pass through the lobby. “Hello Kitson and Simon, did you have a good day?” What felt generally sincere and friendly, with no requests being too much. Also, the wait staff and our cabin steward quickly started to know our names with many of the wine and bar staff even remembering our cabin number, not having to ask us for it when getting a drink or ordering a glass of wine.

Another thing is the lack of the hard sell. Like the drinks package, they have one, they are more than glad to explain it to you, but they didn’t push. There was an introduction to the spa facilities, but again, no hard sell. They have excursions, but other then covering what they offered in the daily briefing, they didn’t push them really hard and often would be glad to help you if you have booked a self organised tour with any information about the port (and no idle threats about being left ashore if you didn’t book through the cruise line). It was quite clear that they felt doing a good job and being available and friendly was a bigger key to “upsells” than trying to shove them down your throat.

One of the other really noticeable things was how much was just included. One of the main reasons we didn’t go for the drinks package is that the coffee is still brewed coffee (versus the reconstituted sludge that is often offered), bottled water, fresh juice, specialty coffee and all non-alcoholic drinks were included. While we do like to have cocktails and wine on a cruise, because so much of everything else was included compared to the big ships, we couldn’t get it to add up. Though if you did buy the drinks package, you were fairly well covered, unlike a lot of the big cruise lines which have a “premium” drinks package as well. With the Wind Star drinks package, all beers, most cocktails, all white wines, and most of the reds were covered on the package. Which is what was part of another great things was that the prices were reasonable. A glass of white wine ranged from $7.50 to $9.50 with some really good selections. Pretty much every cocktail was $8.50 and beers were around $5.50. They also didn’t skimp on the size of the pours for the wine or the cocktails.

No Herding

I was a little worried because we were going to be tendered into the vast majority of ports. We had been through tendering on big ships before and while it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, it did feel like you were being herded around. You would meet in the theatre, you would be assigned a group, you would make your way into the bowls of the ship, waiting in alleys to be tendered off the boat, while having to wait for those who had booked something with the cruise line to board first, often times having to wait well over an hour to get off the boat. It was often a distraction from enjoying your holiday.

It is true, when the cruise lines excursions go ashore, they can fill up the tenders and do get priority, but every port we arrived at, there was a good 30-60 minutes of tendering open before the excursions went ashore. I think maybe the most we waited for a tender was 10 minutes, either to or from the boat.

Also, meals times, even at the buffets, never felt crowded, or that you were being herded. The two group dinners and one group lunch were probably the “worst” in the sense that a good portion of the guests would join the line for food at the same time, but with less than 150 guests, sitting there for 5-10 minutes would quickly let the queue die down and you could grab a bite to eat without feeling crowded or rushed.

Food, food and more food

If you need food, don’t worry, Wind Spirit has you covered. Of course, indulging is the signature of most cruises, with food generally available 24 hours, but Wind Spirit will provide you with a full menu of room service with no additional surcharges, if you are feeling anti-social.

But if you do venture out, I think pretty much everything we had on board was food I would gladly pay for on land. They seem to be glad to cater for every whim and desire too. Luckily neither Simon or myself have any special food requirements, but we certainly got the sense that they would be glad to adjust for that.

The breakfast and lunch were a combination of cook to order and buffet. For breakfast, it was always nice getting eggs Benedict or Simon would often get on omelette. Lunch, when we were on the ship, the buffet would usually suffice for me.

There were afternoon snacks at the pool, just in case you got hungry and little hors d’oeuvres in the pre-dinner Lounge entertainment and port briefing.

Excursions

Typically we organise our excursions independently, as we tend to find the cruise ship organised ones overpriced and lacking real enjoyment, often large coaches of people with stickers on their shirts being herded from tourist trap to tourist trap. It was likely the combination of being on a small ship and being in French Polynesia though that there weren’t many of those type of activities on offer. So in the end we did two excursions through the ship. In both cases because we had a little bit of a difficult time finding something we could book. In both cases though, you still never felt herded, or treated as just a number. You assembled in the lounge and then went ashore, in a group no larger than 16. Also, both the excursions we booked were a little more involved than the typical excursions, one a kayak experience and the other snorkeling in a coral garden.

A great experience

I think both of us were impressed with the cruise. We had heard that once you go small boat cruise you may never go back to the big ones and I think that might be true. They are clearly different things. Big cruise ships are like being at an all inclusive resort, where as Wind Spirit is a bit like what you might expect a cruise to be, being at sea with a handful of other people. The cruise line seems to trade on what you want them to trade on, good memorable experiences in a high quality environment with unsurpassed customer service. I could see us easily doing another destination with Windstar.