Look
for a new look and new suites on Windstar Cruises ships next year,
as vessels rotate in and out of drydock for major upgrades.
As reported, Windstar
plans to take its three yachts out of service for five-week
stretches over a 12-month period, starting in November.
The refurbishment is
the line's third major fleetwide refurbishment in six years. In
past overhauls, the line has added computer rooms (2000),
refurbished pool areas (2003) and added iPods to its lineup of
amenities (2005).
This year's
announcement piggy-backs on last year's enhancement plan. The
multimillion-dollar project, dubbed Degrees of Difference, is
similar to the long-term Signature of Excellence program at Holland
America, Windstar's sister line.
Last year, Degrees of
Difference meant new soft goods and brand-name toiletries. This
year, it's a new main deck on the Wind Surf. That ship, the first
to be renovated, will be reconfigured to accommodate the Yacht
Club.
Walls will come down
on the main deck to create the Yacht Club, an open space housing an
espresso bar (possibly featuring coffee made by a certain large
company based in Seattle, said Windstar), couches, eight computers
with Internet and a large, flat-panel TV.
Part of this space
has been a library; guests will still find books as well as DVDs
and CDs available for their use.
The Wind Surf also
will gain two suites, at 475 square feet, the largest on the yacht.
The new suites will occupy space now used for computers and meeting
rooms on the bridge deck.
Called the Bridge
Suites, the rooms will feature whirlpool bathtubs, the only
bathtubs on the ship.
Bridge guests will
have extra amenities, including an unpacking/packing service,
dinner with the captain, laundry and ironing service, evening
appetizers in the suites, high tea on request, bottled water in the
suites, champagne on arrival and additional L'Occitane bath
amenities.
Details of changes to
public spaces in the smaller vessels have not been finalized. The
two smaller vessels may each get an additional suite, said Diane
Moore, Windstar's vice president of marketing and sales.
Each ship will have
two weeks in wetdock plus three weeks in drydock in Lisbon. At the
end of the refurbishments, each ship will be reflagged to the
Netherlands from the Bahamas.
Moore said that the
reflagging would open up new itineraries to the vessels, such as
cruises that start and end in Greece.
"We're looking at
that for 2008," Moore said.
The Wind Surf's Nov.
19 transatlantic sailing and its Dec. 2 Caribbean cruise were
canceled.
The Caribbean season
was rescheduled to begin Dec. 16 with a roundtrip sailing from
Barbados.
The Wind Spirit will
be next to be renovated, beginning in March.
The Wind Star will
begin its drydock in October 2007.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine
Godwin at [email protected].