Wind Spirit Cruise Reviews - Reviews

THIS WAS OUR FIRST WINDSTAR CRUISE AND WE WILL RETURN TO TAKE A WINDSTAR CRUISE AGAIN. YOU WILL MEET LOTS OF DIFFERENT CRUISE PEOPLE. THE SHIP OFFICERS WERE VERY FRIENDLY. THEY ALL LINED UP AS WE LEFT THE SHIP TO THANK US. NEVER SEE THIS ON OTHER CRUIE LINES.

Best cruise we’ve ever taken. This is an exceptional way to experience the Society Islands in French Polynesia. The cruise atmospher is casual but classy. The service is first class. The excursions are amazing.

We were disappointed in the condition and cleanliness of the ship i.e. the top decking was work, warped and rusted. Carpets worn and tired, etc.. The ship had constant breakdowns, i.e. generators, engines, power, AC, marine deck, anchor, sails, etc.. . Should have been in dry dock 6 months ago.

French Polynesia is drop dead gorgeous and Windstar service and food is the best we ever encountered. If you love water sports e.g. snorkeling, diving, jet ski, beaches, this is for you.

This was our 5th trip to Tahiti(Bora Bora, Moorea) The Best part: Water Sports Platform Great staff and Great food.

Truly a 1st class experience, visiting islands of sublime beauty.

It was an amazing trip. We had perfect weather, the staff is absolutely unbelievable, and not to mention the scenery was something out of a postcard. I highly recommend Windstar- Dreams of Tahiti. This was our first time with windstar, and we are already planning to go on their Mediterranean one. Once you sail with windstar, it will be very hard to go back to a royal Caribbean or a carnival! 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like cruising the islands of French Polynesia, but Wind Spirit was exactly what I needed. The staff were amazing! The ship was just the right size and we were able to make many new friends that made the trip even more enjoyable. We received lots of information about every step of the trip and were able to make the best choices for us. DWI make our experience wonderful, he went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed and cared for. Hakim worked so hard to make our room clean and comfortable. We loved the towel sculptures and the thoughtful notes for our Anniversary.

We especially appreciated how hard everyone worked at learning our names and the things that we liked. It was sweet that our anniversary was acknowledged with a cake and a song on the Motu. I would totally tell everyone to sail with Windstar...it was the best experience ever.

We absolutely adored this cruise experience!  Just the greatest crew- we felt so pampered all week.  Terrific excursions, too.  Really can't say enough good about this cruise!  Thank you, Windstar!

This Windstar cruise of French Polynesia holds adventures that most don't experience in a lifetime. And yet, there is little risk or danger. Swimming with sharks and cuddling stingrays is a safe environment in the ocean was one highlight of our trip. Drinking coconut juice from a freshly cracked coconut and drift snorkeling was another. Watch out for the coral! Learning how to scuba down about 40 feet with a 2 on 1 guide to insure safety was unbelievable satisfying and adventure leaving us wanting to do this again in the future.

And that is just the excursions. The Windspirit with its own marina platform and the  gracious, friendly, warm crew made the trip so much nicer. And, the sail away leaves us speechless with goosebumps.

The food was terrific but we had so much to do that dinner was the only time we luxuriated in the experience of drinking and appetizers and dinner.

This particular trip comes highly recommended from people such as us who have taken 20+ cruises on large ships with lots of people. Our next cruise will definitely be on a Windstar yacht vs. the other cruise lines. We will never forget this journey!

Great cruise!

WindStar and the Wind Spirit are the best in overall small-ship cruising in my opinion. The crew of which some were with us on the Wind Surf two years ago, remembered us and we renewed old friendships, they all made this trip very special. We met several couples from all over the world who made the trip relaxing and enjoyable. French Polynesia is truly paradise and I highly recommend that everyone put it on your "bucket list.'

This cruise is for adventure seekers who want to experience gorgeous water. It is not for shopping and restaurants/bars. You must have an adventurers heart and be physically fit. The hikes are demanding and most of the tours are water sports like snorkel, scuba and swimming. The ship as 56 stairs from the bottom deck to the top with no elevators at all. It is an amazing experience and you go for the gorgeous vistas and unbelievably clear waters.

My biggest disappointment with the island experience was that the coral was no longer as colorful as they were only a couple years ago. Warming ocean temperatures have bleached the coral so they are no longer as spectacular as they once were. Consequently, my snorkeling expeditions were not as exciting as I had expected. Moreover, the fish populations are no longer as prolific as they use to be. So on the whole, I found the cruise experience more interesting then the island excursions. I took this cruise at the end of February, which is technically their rainy season, but I really appreciated the partial clouds that hid the direct sun. Even with partial overcast skies it was still very warm (and very humid), but at least we didn't get sunburned. One of the attached photos shows the size comparison between the Wind Spirit with 138 passengers versus and the Paul Gauguin with 3,000. By comparison, the Wind Spirit looks so much more civilized.

Fabulous trip for our 10 years wedding vow in Bora Bora

Very relaxing and beautiful. Surf is my favorite but Spirit comes close. Great food. Incredible scuba trips!! Crew show was a hoot when the ship's doctor sang!! Watersports platform and staff is great!!

We‘re just back from the Windstar Panama Canal to Costa Roca cruise on the Wind Spirit. This was our third and probably last cruise with Windstar.  First the good news. The on board staff is wonderful; friendly, hardworking and professional. They do a great job given the deep cuts put in place by the new owners. The kitchen staff works wonders with the poor quality supplies they are provided. But even they can’t make up for the lack of quality food or the minimal quantity of pricier ingredients. Compared to our previous Windstar cruises, the lunch buffet was bare bones. No seafood salads or other interesting items. Instead we had lots of pasta’s and stewed/braised meats, the better to tenderize lower quality cuts.  The afternoon teas were simply embarrassing. Dinners were usually better but the seafood was dreadful. One does not expect frozen fish as an entrée when visiting ports filled with local fisherman delivering wonderful fish daily. It is clear that Xanterra is cutting corners which has impacting bookings. Our cruise was only 78% occupied (125 passengers). At the Yacht Club (frequent cruiser) reception I discretely chatted with several other Windstar regulars who noticed the decline and wanted to share notes on other lines for future cruises. The staff at the corporate booking office worked to minimums and couldn’t care less about our past loyalty. Xanterra specializes in extracting maximum revenue from a captive audience. As operators of facilities within US National Parks, they serve visitors who rarely come back for repeat visits. So their modus operandi is maximum prices with minimal value. We sailed on the Seabourn Odyssey last year and the difference between the Odyssey and Wind Spirit is dramatic even though the Windstar line costs about the same. 

The size of the ship was perfect. Housekeeping was excellent! Food and wine offerings were very good. Exterior and interior of the ship were showing signs of wear and need to be addressed. Captain and ship's crew were very professional. Check-in experience prior to boarding the ship was not the best. It would have been nice to have had access to shore excursion options prior to starting the cruise. Itinerary was excellent. Laundry option was excellent as was our cabin steward.

The ship was fantastic and the crew was all ways friendly and would do anything to help you. Can't think of anything negative to say about the ship

Just returned from our 11 day cruise of French Polynesia aboard Windspirit! Wonderful trip of a lifetime! The crew was wonderful, we are giving up large ship cruising! Will be flying out of Tahiti tonight and wishing Windstar well!