I booked my trip on the Wind Spirit, sailing from St. Thomas on Feb. 14, with one question to answer from a journalistic standpoint: How had the Windstar experience changed since Ambassadors International acquired Windstar from Holland America Line in April 2007?
As a baseline measurement, I could compare this Wind Spirit cruise with a Wind Surf sailing from Barbados I took about two years ago, a few months before the HAL-to-Ambassadors handoff.
However, the assignment became a bit more complicated when, three days before the Wind Spirit embarked, Ambassadors announced it was overhauling its executive team and would attempt to sell all of its major assets (including its marina construction and consulting services and travel events businesses) other than Windstar so the company could focus on the small-ship, luxury-cruise segment.
Ambassadors believes Windstar is a keeper, and so did many of the passengers on the Wind Spirit. The unequivocal verdict was that the superior quality of the Windstar experience was consistent under both taskmasters.
Veteran Windstar cruisers aboard also felt the ownership transition was seamless.
And, so far, they said, Ambassadors' financial challenges (at press time, its stock price was 37 cents) hadn't been felt on board.
The appearance of the vessel, a motored-sail yacht with a capacity of 148 passengers and 95 crew (up from 88 under HAL), was ship-shape; service was overwhelmingly personable and attentive; and the cuisine in the two restaurants, the Veranda and the Restaurant (a third has since been added), was usually on the mark.
The eight-day sailing from St. Thomas made calls in St. John, St. Martin, St. Bart's, Tortola, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda.
If repeat passengers were relatively oblivious to the ownership change, Wind Spirit Hotel Manager Henri Lemay, an eight-year Windstar veteran, commented on a divergent management style. Lemay said he has more flexibility under Ambassadors, a much smaller company than HAL.
"When I was the chef [on the Wind Surf], I had no right to change anything," said Lemay. "The menu was set, that's it.
"That was the way [HAL] ran the business," he added. "Now we have more freedom to change things. So if guests say, 'Listen, we are fed up with those recipes with bell peppers and mashed potatoes, we want something else,' now we have the liberty to do it."
Whether it is a function of this newfound flexibility or not, Windstar indeed will be making some changes, Lemay said.
Recently the Wind Spirit and the Wind Star each added a 30-seat, al fresco barbecue restaurant, Candles, where shorts and T-shirts are acceptable garb. The Wind Surf added a Candles restaurant last summer.
And as of 2010, the Wind Spirit will sail out of St. Martin instead of St. Thomas, making air connections easier for passengers.
In a separate interview, Wind Spirit Capt. Andrew Hayton said the HAL-to-Ambassadors transition two years ago "made no real difference," and he also was unfazed by reports of Ambassadors' financial challenges.
"What happens in the office really doesn't concern us," he said.
But, like Lemay, Hayton welcomes Ambassadors' focus on Windstar.
"Obviously, it is a vote of confidence for Windstar if they are selling everything and just keeping Windstar," he said.
Hayton noted that when HAL sold Windstar, crew members had the option to remain in HAL's employ on other ships or to stick with Windstar, and most remained with Windstar. (In fact, I recognized about a dozen crew members from my previous sailing.)
All three Windstar vessels fall in the small-ship category. But I still found that sailing the 312-passenger Wind Surf in 2007 and the 148-passenger Wind Spirit last month made for somewhat different experiences.
For example, on the Wind Spirit sailing you definitely could feel the rock and roll of waves to a much greater degree than on the larger Wind Surf.
Also, the variety of breakfast and luncheon choices in their Veranda restaurants was more extensive on the Wind Surf than on the Wind Spirit.
On the other hand, the vibe on the Wind Spirit was a bit more intimate and laid-back, giving passengers the opportunity to connect or do their own thing.
There were a lot of people doing their own thing on my sailing; nearly all the cabins were booked.