Moving from Mega ship to small ship cruising. HELP

We have done about 25 cruises in 20 years including Carnival, Celebrity, RCCL, Princess, and Holland America. Now we would like to go to Costa Rica and decided small ship cruising might be an option. Looking at Windstar and Star Breeze for early 2019. Love the pictures of the small ship public areas but the staterooms scare me. We usually book a balcony and once in a while a suite. The Windstar staterooms look very claustrophobic but the idea of the smaller ship wind sails tempts me. The Star Breeze staterooms look better but I think the French balconies will be a disappointment. Would love to hear opinions and about anybody else's experiences transitioning from Mega Ship to small ship cruising.:cool:

One of the many reasons we have come to adore Wind Star is because of their port intensive itineraries. We love being in a new city/town/country every day. My husband has never been a fan of sea days. We found that having each day being in a new port, we don’t spend that much time in our room. We wake up, get dressed, go have breakfast and head out. We return late in the day, change clothes and head out for a drink and then dinner. After dinner perhaps another cocktail in the lounge or outside under the stars. Then it’s off to bed and our routine starts again the following day. Not a lot of time to spend in our room and with so much outdoor space on the ship that is never crowded the rooms work for us.

By the way, we did the Panama Canal and Costa Rica on the Wind Spirit a few years back and just loved it!

After about 40 cruises with ships getting bigger and bigger we tried river cruising in Europe. Usually we would have a balcony on oc, river cruise cabins are smaller but well laid out with plenty of storage. After that we were on the Paul Gauguin about 350? passengers it was nice. Then went with Windstar Athens to Istanbul and loved it again small well designed cabin. This past summer 11 day in French Polynesia on Windstar and this summer Windstar Baltic trip. We well never set foot on a large ship again! Still love river cruising with Uniworld.

The cabins on Windstar are small, but they are exceptionally well designed, with more that adequate storage. The deck areas are always just a few steps away, and never any problem finding a spot to sit. We did the Panama Canal and Costa Rica on the Windstar many years ago. We will never get on a big ship again.

Star Breeze has ENORMOUS cabins with dual vanities, a walk in closet and plenty of seating for four. And again, you are always a few steps from the outside.

We prefer the sailing ships for warm weather cruises.

Thanks, everyone, please keep your ideas coming, I love all the information. I am excited to be going.

We’re taking our first Wind Star (Wind Surf) cruise this Spring through Southern Italy and Croatia. I’ve done the Baltics, the Caribbean and Mexican Rivera. I have had a balcony room on the Jewel of the Seas.

It’s been a “bucket list” wish to take a Wind Star cruise. The small ca ind aren’t concerning to me as they seem to be well configured and we don’t spend a lot of time in the room. We have a similar routine as Ski Mom 2 where after a long day in port, we go back to our cabin, freshen up for dinner, have a cocktail and watch the ship leave port or people watch, have dinner, maybe have an after-dinner drink and go to bed. The smaller ship, the intimacy of it all, and the variety of ports really appeals to us.

I’m not having any reservations or concerns of being on the smaller ship and getting very excited!

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A subtle thing: The cruise line is Windstar (no space). The sail ship is Wind Star (all three sail ships are Wind <something> with a space).

I haven't found the sail ships to be claustrophobic. The staterooms are well laid out. In some ways, I prefer the traditional ship beauty of these ships to the motor yachts, though I'll happily sail on either. There is plenty of comfortable uncrowded public space so I just hung out there when wanting to relax and watch the world instead of in the stateroom.

Last spring we had a balcony suite on Star Legend and in the summer we had a balcony on Crystal Serenity. I found I preferred the French balcony on Windstar because when you open the door, the ocean is right there so I would feel very in touch with it as I would get ready or relax in the room. Where as with the balcony, I felt that to really see the whole view I had to go out on the balcony.

I've been eyeing the Costa Rica and Panama Canal cruises for late 2018 or 2019 too. I wish they would publish the Star Breeze schedule. My husband's knees sometimes bother him so we might want to take the Star Breeze if it is going there to have the option to use the elevators.

We tried Star Pride this December, our first WindStar sailing. The motor yacht staterooms are huge. I was more concerned with having enough to do on the ship, and discovered that was not a problem. Instead of going to shows, etc. we made some really great friends!

The best night we have ever had on a cruise was the night of the deck BBQ (the food and choices were to die for!). We were in Les Saintes that day, along with Wind Surf. The captains arranged that we left at the same time, around 9 pm, I believe. We got to see Wind Surf raise her sails, absolutely stunning! And THEN, we were treated to a meteor shower! The captain turned most the lights off. It truly was a magical night.

We loved it so much we booked 4 more, all on sailing yachts. We're doing 2 on Wind Surf in December (B2B), and 2 on Wind Spirit the following December (again, B2B).

We were on the Star Legend in October last year. It was a lovely cruise. We have enjoyed that it is more intimate but you do not get the feeling of being crowded. Very good service from a crew, who did not seem as stressed as in big ships.

Ivi

There are lots of benefits to the small ship.

Keep in mind since it is small you can be outside in a minute.

It's a totally different atmosphere and one where you can really get to know the guests and crew and it feels very intimate.

Keith

Ditto put me on a ship's comment about the size of the motor vessel's staterooms. They are 277 square feet. The ships were built before the rush for everyone to have a balcony. That means everyone has basically the same space. The windows are huge and have a space like a window seat where you can watch the world go by. I'd take the cheapest cabin available on one of the Star ships rather than a suite on one of the mass market ships...;)

Windstar cabins are good. The sailing ships have decent size cabins. The cabin arrangement is very good. 2 well organized closets, good lighting, 2 comfortable chairs. The Star type ships have large suites that are very comfortable. Some french balconies. There are a few really big suites with verandas. They are all excellent. Before I sailed on Windstar, I usually booked veranda or suite cabins. It had been years since I booked an oceanview. I like being able to sit outside . Even though most Windstar cabins have no veranda, they are so close to outside decks. I have never missed the veranda. Windstar is very different from most cruises. Read my recent Windsurf review of my 14 day cruise. I had a great time.

Grammi, you have received a lot of very good information here. The Star class motor yachts are exceptionally roomy overall, with outstanding cabin space. One of my best references when talking about why I love sailing on the motor yachts with Windstar is to compare cabin size with Holland America, which happens to be my favorite larger ship line. The "large outside cabin" on most HAL ships are 188sq ft. (This also applies to most HAL baloney cabins, while not counting the actual balcony space.) The standard cabins on Windstar, Star class yachts are 277sq ft. That is a significantly larger space, without requiring a major bump in price, as they don't make them any smaller on these three yachts.

The French balcony is very comfortable space because you have the wide open space of your cabin with the ocean air and outside right there.

And as many others have mentioned here, the smaller overall size of the yachts makes open space always less than 30 seconds away. I told someone on the Star Pride, breakfast was nearer than my mailbox was at home.

I would suggest that the risk of not liking a french balcony, on the Star Breeze, is a risk worth taking. You do not need to have an Owner's Suite to still feel like you own the whole boat with Windstar.

We had never sailed in anything under 600 s/f. We booked a 188 s/f cabin on the Surf and were delighted at how roomy it felt. With large ships you need to have a private space to spend time in because there are so many people around. On Windstar we were so busy with ports that all we did in our cabin was sleep and shower.

We just disembarked Wind Surf this morning after 2 weeks aboard in the Caribbean.

It was our first cruise on Windstar after well over 100 on other larger ships and we loved it.

Food and service was excellent and friendly, passengers were nicer than we have experienced before, no snobs although for sure no one on there is poor.

No lines except occasionally for a tender, ship seems very well maintained and we will go back for another cruise on Windstar as soon as we can.

We just disembarked Wind Surf this morning after 2 weeks aboard in the Caribbean.

It was our first cruise on Windstar after well over 100 on other larger ships and we loved it.

 

Food and service was excellent and friendly, passengers were nicer than we have experienced before, no snobs although for sure no one on there is poor.

 

No lines except occasionally for a tender, ship seems very well maintained and we will go back for another cruise on Windstar as soon as we can.

I want to sail with them next year:) bur am waiting to see if the itinerary I want to do will be offered.

Lois: Book it. You will be amazed. You will also find that you want to go back. We were on Windsurf 14 nights in January. We just did a 14 night Celebrity Millenium cruise in Asia. We booked it with friends. We chose it for the ports more than the ship. It fit everyone's schedule. When we docked in Hong Kong, the Star Legend was docked in front of us. It looked beautiful. It reminded me of the great time that I had sailing on the Legend last spring in the Med.

Lois: Book it. You will be amazed. You will also find that you want to go back. We were on Windsurf 14 nights in January. We just did a 14 night Celebrity Millenium cruise in Asia. We booked it with friends. We chose it for the ports more than the ship. It fit everyone's schedule. When we docked in Hong Kong, the Star Legend was docked in front of us. It looked beautiful. It reminded me of the great time that I had sailing on the Legend last spring in the Med.

If they would open up itineraries for the fall of 2019 and I see the cruise I want to take, I would book it. But since it is not there (as of this time) there is nothing for me to book...........it is called BELLES of the British Isles and they only have 1 sailing listed for Sept 2018 (which I cannot do). But the itinerary looks wonderful so maybe they will offer it for next year too. I called

Windstar but the rep had no answers on the timeframe of next year's releases.

As for Millennium, I have sailed the entire Celebrity fleet and when going Mass market, I always enjoy that size.....(but that is

just one person's opinion).