With much anticipation and a positive attitude we boarded the Star Breeze recently.

We love the tall ships but thought we would give the Star Breeze a try. Our last cruise was on a bigger Seabourn. The Star Breeze is lovely in many ways but I think Windstar needs to rethink their theme...180 degrees from ordinary. We are talking about two vastly different types of cruise experiences...the tall ships and the cruise ships. Herein lies the problem.

Having come off a Seabourn ship it was hard not to compare. (also because the Seaboard logo is still displayed on most cabin doors etc.) The difference between the two was most obvious when it came to housekeeping. Granted Windstar has doubled its fleet as well as staff. Many of the crew on board were welcomed and familiar faces. But most were new to the Windstar line. You know that "Ahh I'm home" feeling you get when you are first shown your new cabin? Sadly that was lacking. I sat on the couch and looked at the mirror behind the 2 opposite chairs. It obviously had not been cleaned in a long time! When I entered the bathroom the same was true of all mirrored surfaces. Left behind were remnants of the previous guest...yuck. Read more