Star Breeze Stateroom 600

[calyfornya]

We have booked cabin 600 on the Star Breeze for a cruise from Seward to Tokyo in 2022.  I am confused about the layout I have seen on line, as it seems to show a bathroom with a shower only and a balcony which overlooks the pool deck rather than the ocean.  The main two things I look for on a cruise are a bathtub and a balcony directly above the ocean.  I asked our travel agent and she said there is a tub, and an ocean view balcony, but according to the deck plans I have seen, that isn’t the case.

l’m hoping someone can tell me for sure!  

[Pudgesmom]

The balcony is at the front of the ship. There is a small outside deck on deck 5 which has a couple of chairs and a hot tub. That balcony would look directly down to the deck below. This picture may help ( credit to Steamboat!), although I believe it is taken one more deck up from in front of the bridge. 

This area is unlikely to be used much on an ocean crossing, due to the winds in the bow when underway.
 

The plan I’m looking at on the website shows a tub/shower combo. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[calyfornya]

Thank you so much!

[r&rd]

Here is a link to a YouTube video that shows the view from the balcony. The video is old and the room has been updated but it is the same view.  

 

 

 

 

[marinaro44]

Didn't see a tub in the video.

[Pudgesmom]

22 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

Didn't see a tub in the video.

The website deck plan has a star (asterisk) symbol shown on the map legend as a tub. 
 

The furniture has been rearranged to provide more seating with a curved sofa under the windows. There is a photo on the website.

 

I was considering this cabin a couple of months ago, and did a fair amount of research. The midship owner’s cabin worked better for us in the end, due to our group size and needs.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[new_cruiser]

2 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Didn't see a tub in the video.

The hot tub is visible at around 3:10 on the video. It's not on the balcony. It's on the forward deck 1 deck below and in front of the balcony.

[new_cruiser]

12 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The balcony is at the front of the ship. There is a small outside deck on deck 5 which has a couple of chairs and a hot tub. That balcony would look directly down to the deck below. This picture may help ( credit to Steamboat!), although I believe it is taken one more deck up from in front of the bridge. 

This area is unlikely to be used much on an ocean crossing, due to the winds in the bow when underway.
 

The plan I’m looking at on the website shows a tub/shower combo. 

I've been on the forward deck while underway - scenic cruising in Alaska. Leaning over the railing, we could see dolphins playing in the bow wake. It wasn't that windy. There were people in the hot tub at times - there is a shell around the forward side of the hot tub to shelter it from the wind.

[Pudgesmom]

4 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

The hot tub is visible at around 3:10 on the video. It's not on the balcony. It's on the forward deck 1 deck below and in front of the balcony.

The video is from several years ago. The deck plans indicate a tub on the Windstar website. OP - call Windstar and ask! 
 

Also we are talking about two different tubs here. 
1. a bathtub in the cabin, as indicated on the Windstar website but not shown in the old video.

 

2. A hot tub on deck 5 below which is accesssible to all passengers. 
 

4 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

I've been on the forward deck while underway - scenic cruising in Alaska. Leaning over the railing, we could see dolphins playing in the bow wake. It wasn't that windy. There were people in the hot tub at times - there is a shell around the forward side of the hot tub to shelter it from the wind.

In my experience, trans-oceanic trips have much higher winds than coastal sailings. Your experience may vary.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[marinaro44]

Here's the confusion.  The video is of the Star Pride, where owner's suites have walk-in showers and no bath tub.  Star Breeze and Star Legend owners suites do have tubs.

[calyfornya]

20 hours ago, r&rd said:

Here is a link to a YouTube video that shows the view from the balcony. The video is old and the room has been updated but it is the same view.  

 

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

[calyfornya]

Thanks to all!  I called Windstar and was told that the balcony does overlook the pool deck, not the ocean, so we were able to switch to Cabin 640, which has a bathtub and shower, and a balcony overlooking the ocean, not another deck.  Happy camper now!

[calyfornya]

4 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Here's the confusion.  The video is of the Star Pride, where owner's suites have walk-in showers and no bath tub.  Star Breeze and Star Legend owners suites do have tubs.

Thanks!

[calyfornya]

5 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The video is from several years ago. The deck plans indicate a tub on the Windstar website. OP - call Windstar and ask! 
 

Also we are talking about two different tubs here. 
1. a bathtub in the cabin, as indicated on the Windstar website but not shown in the old video.

 

2. A hot tub on deck 5 below which is accesssible to all passengers. 
 

In my experience, trans-oceanic trips have much higher winds than coastal sailings. Your experience may vary.

Thank you!  Was able to switch to a midship location that fits the bill!

[calyfornya]

11 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The website deck plan has a star (asterisk) symbol shown on the map legend as a tub. 
 

The furniture has been rearranged to provide more seating with a curved sofa under the windows. There is a photo on the website.

 

I was considering this cabin a couple of months ago, and did a fair amount of research. The midship owner’s cabin worked better for us in the end, due to our group size and needs.

Thanks for the info.  We were able to switch to midship, Cabin 640.

[Pudgesmom]

14 hours ago, calyfornya said:

Thanks for the info.  We were able to switch to midship, Cabin 640.

You’re welcome! We have the same cabin booked for a sister ship in September. I hope you will share your experience here. 
 

You’re probably already aware of this but in case not, the lifeboat blocks the view out of some of the windows in these cabins, although I haven’t seen a picture since the ships were lengthened. 

 

This tour includes the suite: 

 

[r&rd]

My understanding is that the lifeboats no longer block the view.

[calyfornya]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:27 AM, Pudgesmom said:

You’re welcome! We have the same cabin booked for a sister ship in September. I hope you will share your experience here. 
 

You’re probably already aware of this but in case not, the lifeboat blocks the view out of some of the windows in these cabins, although I haven’t seen a picture since the ships were lengthened. 

 

This tour includes the suite: 

 

Thanks again!  I had noticed the lifeboats in the deck plan, but as long as the balcony is clear, I’ll be happy.  Another poster replied that the lifeboats are no longer in the way after the lengthening, so, if that’s the case, we’ll both enjoy our cruises even more!

[calyfornya]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:27 AM, Pudgesmom said:

You’re welcome! We have the same cabin booked for a sister ship in September. I hope you will share your experience here. 
 

You’re probably already aware of this but in case not, the lifeboat blocks the view out of some of the windows in these cabins, although I haven’t seen a picture since the ships were lengthened. 

 

This tour includes the suite: 

 

I just found another video from Windstar that has great photos and a 360 degree of the living area.

https://www.windstarcruises.com/starplus/

[Pudgesmom]

Grins- the same video I posted above

[new_cruiser]

Here's a picture taken today. The balcony is under the smaller life boat. You can see that the bottom of the lifeboat is above the top of balcony doors so it shouldn't obstruct the view. The raising/lowering mechanism may block a bit at the very edges of the balcony.

[RemPuck]

What is the smaller balcony just to the right of the smaller lifeboat? Is that part of the same suite?  There doesn't appear to be any obstruction there.

 

[Pudgesmom]

8 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

Here's a picture taken today. The balcony is under the smaller life boat. You can see that the bottom of the lifeboat is above the top of balcony doors so it shouldn't obstruct the view. The raising/lowering mechanism may block a bit at the very edges of the balcony.

You are incorrect. The area under the smaller life boat is inaccessible to passengers. The balcony is located to the right of that lifeboat. It is 76 square feet, or approximately 10 x 7. It is longer than it is wide. It has two loungers and a small table with two chairs. The windows you see under the lifeboat are part of this cabin, and there is no door. This information was confirmed by a call to Windstar. 

 

To the right of the actual balcony is a stateroom with a window only, and to the right of that is a stateroom with French balcony. The three can be combined to make a large suite with three bedrooms. We have this combo booked for September. The rooms are all billed separately, which is why I know for sure what we are looking at.

 

6 hours ago, RemPuck said:

What is the smaller balcony just to the right of the smaller lifeboat? Is that part of the same suite?  There doesn't appear to be any obstruction there.

 

It is the area located in the red square above.

 

The balcony shape and size can also be seen on the Windstar website on the floor plan for this cabin.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[Phantom_Celery]

OP has perhaps already been on their cruise, but in case others have been researching the owner’s suites on the Star class ships since the stretching, there are some differences that are unclear from the online deck plans.

 

One big difference is that the 600/601 forward owner’s suites on Star Breeze/Legend have much smaller forward-facing balconies (pictured above, and on deck plans and virtual tours available online) than the relatively gigantic verandas on the same staterooms on Star Pride. Some confusion maybe comes from the video tours posted above, which are of the Pride (pre-stretch), not the Breeze. While photos/videos showing the 600/601 balconies on Star Breeze are relatively easy to find online, recent images of the Star Pride 600/601 are harder to find. I’ve posted a zoomed in photo from July 2022 showing that the big wraparound balconies on Star Pride 600/601 owner’s suites survived the renovation but do not appear on the deck plans. 

Star Breeze and Legend have tub/shower combos in the forward owner’s suites, and Star Pride 600/601 have walk in showers without a tub.

 

Since some of this thread also includes questions about the midship owner’s suites, permit me to offer some opinions here. The midship owner’s suites are larger than 600/601 on all 3 ships, and have larger balconies by square footage than the forward OWs on Star Breeze and Legend. One difference is that the midship balconies are covered whereas the 600/601 are mostly not, which may be good or bad depending on where/when you’re sailing and your own preferences. What’s bay in my view is that the recessed windows are directly overshadowed by the lifeboat (you can see its keel definitely blocking the view through the window in the 360 virtual tour), and the bed is situated relatively far from the blocked window. The forward owner’s suites absolutely have much better light from the larger unobstructed windows. While I haven’t stayed in the midship OWs, I would also imagine that the noise from lowering the tenders at dawn in all the anchorages would also be disruptive— maybe someone who’s stayed in them can comment below?

 

Depending on the experience you’re going for, the 600/601 forward owner’s suites on Star Pride are (in my opinion) vastly preferred to the midship because of the awesome wraparound balconies and better light from the windows. Essentially, you’re trading interior square footage for more outdoor space and better light. The analogous staterooms on Star Breeze and Legend are more of a tradeoff, if you consider my descriptions above. 
 

In the third photo I’ve outlined the midship owner’s suite in blue and the approximate window positions in yellow.

 

 Hope this is helpful!

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Phantom_Celery
Wording fixes

[Phantom_Celery]

Here is the keel of the lifeboat blocking the windows in Star Breeze 641 midship OW