Windstar is making waves within the small luxurious cruise area with the debut of its seventh ship.
The primary new-build vessel for the road in three a long time, Star Seeker, was unveiled in a naming ceremony on the Port of Miami on Thursday night time.
Designed to be intimate and upscale, Star Seeker is an all-suite ship with simply 112 rooms — a notably small quantity within the cruise world today. Every of those 112 lodging contains a full personal veranda or floor-to-ceiling home windows.
Chatting with the ship’s highlights, which embrace a lot of open decks, cozy tucked-away seating areas and a coffee-to-cocktail-bar space generally known as the Yacht Membership (an amenity iconic to the model), Stijn Creupelandt, Windstar’s chief working officer, instructed TPG that “this was our first alternative to actually construct and design a ship that form of actually will encourage these sorts of experiences that Windstar is understood for.”
Accommodating 224 company, Star Seeker’s top-tier facilities embrace a full-service spa, a pool and a whirlpool, a gymnasium and 5 eating venues — a big quantity for a ship of this dimension.
For the adventurous traveler, the smallness of the ship presents each an intimate expertise and the flexibility to entry ports that larger ships cannot enter, executives famous.
“I wish to see locations that the massive ships cannot take me to,” Janet Bava, Windstar’s chief business officer, instructed TPG. “I believe Windstar goes to be an excellent product for an lively traveler that desires experiential, culturally immersive, actually good delicacies, high quality meals, once they come on board.”
Hoping to redefine what a cruise is for vacationers who affiliate cruising with large traces, Bava believes that Star Seeker has the “alternative to proceed to welcome company to a method of cruising that I believe isn’t widespread” with many cruisers.
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Living proof, the ship has a marina that lets passengers kayak, snorkel and paddleboard proper off the again of the yacht — one thing you will discover on all Windstar vessels however not on most cruise ships.
With a brand new ship added to its portfolio, Windstar is increasing its itineraries. Star Seeker is spending its inaugural season within the Caribbean however quickly will redeploy to Alaska for the summer time — a vacation spot the road has not been capable of provide since 2023. It will then transfer on to Japan in late 2026 and 2027.
“The one method we may return to Alaska, to go to Japan, to go deeper and so as to add extra locations, was to develop our model. … So I believe that is the largest connection is de facto, you already know, having the ability to provide extra locations to our company on the platform that is uniquely designed,” Creupelandt stated.
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The ship’s small dimension will permit Star Seeker and a soon-to-debut sister ship, Star Explorer, to not solely go to ports which can be inaccessible to bigger cruise ships but in addition provide extra off-the-beaten-path itineraries.
The ship, for example, will have the ability to dock in Venice, Italy, one thing that large ships not are allowed to do, giving passengers walk-off entry to one of many world’s most well-known locations. Many large ships today should dock greater than an hour away by motorcoach from Venice attributable to new laws.
“We’re sufficiently small to … be allowed into Venice,” Bava stated. “And so folks, once they say experiential means I get off my ship, I get to unpack as soon as and see a number of locations, identical to the massive ships … however the locations [that Star Seeker can access] are much more, I believe, the locations that folks wish to see once they journey.”
Permitting for a continued enlargement into different markets, Star Explorer will debut in December and repair European itineraries, crusing to river ports and metropolis facilities.
The 2-hour christening occasion kicked off with gentle hors d’oeuvres, adopted by speeches from Windstar’s president, Christopher Prelog, and Star Seeker captain Tom Schofield and blessings from Star Seeker’s appointed godmother, Libby Anschutz. The ceremonious night time concluded with a little bit of sparkle as a phenomenal fireworks show lit up the Miami harbor.
Following the occasion, Star Seeker stated farewell and formally set sail to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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