Star Legend Winter Mediterranean

[St Pete Cruiser]

We have previously cruised with Windstar only on the Wind Surf, their largest sailing ship. The Surf was built in 1989. We originally booked a 10 day Caribbean on her in 2021 and then a 17 day Venice to Barcelona cruise in 2022. The best part of that cruise was being able to sail from Venice and to call at some very small ports enroute. 

Not entirely pleased with the Surf, I did want to try one of the "motor yachts" as Windstar calls them. The Legend was actually built for Seabourn in 1991, but was sold to Royal Viking. Her two sister ships were delivered to what was Seabourn. Royal Viking was an upscale cruise line in the 70's and 80's and built the larger Royal Viking Sun in 1988 as their flagship and most popular ship. The Sun was later sold to Cunard/Seabourn  for a few years before being transferred to Holland America Line and renamed Prinsendam, their Elegant Explorer. Thus, the Legend has some good family genes!

   Windstar acquired the 3 sister ships from Seabourn as Seabourn built new and larger replacements for what are now Star Pride, Breeze and Legend. To add another part of the puzzle, Windstar decided prior to Covid, to add more rooms to the small ships by cutting them and inserting about 80' mid ship to the three of them for about $250m. A large investment in 30+ year old ships. New engines were also needed.

     When the Legend needed to be redeployed from its Red Sea itineraries to a simple Barcelona to Civitvechia 7 day one, we decided to try it and do the RT from Barcelona. The rates were reduced to fill the ship with a relatively short time frame. 

   We left St Petersburg's 78 degree sunshine for a cold 45 and breezy start in Barcelona Sunday morning. We couldn't board until1pm and did walk about LaRambla with our luggage checked.

     Boarding a small ship like Legend required walking up a rather steep gangway, something some disabled people would have difficulty doing. Our room on the 4th deck was close by. All rooms on the Legend are considered suites with about 270 square feet. Our room looks new because it is! One of the added rooms, the shower is much like the newer Pinnacle class on Holland America with glass doors and extra space. There are 2 sinks, but little countertop.  A small walk in closet, a sitting area with sofa and 2 chairs and the slightly separate bed and drawers next to the large window. 

 

 

 

[Misty Morning]

35 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Not entirely pleased with the Surf, I did want to try one of the "motor yachts"

What's your initial reaction to the Star Legend so far?

[Pudgesmom]

There is another configuration to the cabins, which we prefer. It reverses the seating and sleeping areas, for a lovely living space next to the big window. Especially on colder itineraries, we find we use it quite a bit. It can be a bit tight with the two doors. Anyway, hope you have a great cruise! ( We are Windsurf people, but get it’s not for everyone.)

[oakridger]

@St Pete Cruiser I'm looking forward to your reports from the Mediterranean, especially this time of year.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

[Host Jazzbeau]

Your research on the history of Star Legend was very thorough, but you are wrong in one aspect.  Prinsendam and Star Legend are two different ships.  Prinsendam (38,848 GT) was built in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun and sailed for Seabourn as Seabourn Sun from 1999 to 2002 before becoming Prinsendam; she is still sailing as Amera:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Amera

 

Star Legend (12,995 GT) is much smaller than Prinsendam and was built in 1990 as Royal Viking Queen and sold to Seabourn in 1996 to join her two slightly older sister ships (sailing as Seabourn Legend).  All three sisters were sold to Windstar in 2014-15 and lengthened from 2018 to 2021 (process interrupted by discovery of asbestos in the engine rooms and then by Covid).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Legend_(ship)

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

40 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Your research on the history of Star Legend was very thorough, but you are wrong in one aspect.  Prinsendam and Star Legend are two different ships.  Prinsendam (38,848 GT) was built in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun and sailed for Seabourn as Seabourn Sun from 1999 to 2002 before becoming Prinsendam; she is still sailing as Amera:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Amera

 

Star Legend (12,995 GT) is much smaller than Prinsendam and was built in 1990 as Royal Viking Queen and sold to Seabourn in 1996 to join her two slightly older sister ships (sailing as Seabourn Legend).  All three sisters were sold to Windstar in 2014-15 and lengthened from 2018 to 2021 (process interrupted by discovery of asbestos in the engine rooms and then by Covid).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Legend_(ship)

 

Sorry if I was unclear, but I know there is a big difference!

The Royal Viking Sun/Prinsendam has a better hull design for heavier seas.

[medskis]

We’ve been on Star Pride and Star Legend in the last 18 months, and are booked on Legend March 17-24, Rome to Barcelona.  Since we were already going to be in Europe skiing, it was a No Brainer at the great price to fly Zurich to Rome for this sailing…. And with the cabins priced the same /first come basis, we will be mid-ship in a “balcony” cabin this time vs on deck 4 which we very much enjoyed too (big picture window and ledge wide enough to sit in).

 We LOVE the Star Motor Yachts huge cabins…yes, like suites.  We agree and prefer the living area to be near the window.  I treat the closet like my own dressing room with its terrific size, drawer storage etc. Yes, counter space in the otherwise great bathroom is a bit tight with the his and hers sinks.  We had been on Wind Spirit in Greece many years ago and that was too small for me even from a common areas/lounge space let alone the 188’ vs 277’ cabin size compared to the Motor Yachts.  
 

Can you please advise who the cruise/entertainment director is on Legend now?  We really loved Sin when he was our director on Star Pride in late 2022.  

[St Pete Cruiser]

39 minutes ago, medskis said:

We’ve been on Star Pride and Star Legend in the last 18 months, and are booked on Legend March 17-24, Rome to Barcelona.  Since we were already going to be in Europe skiing, it was a No Brainer at the great price to fly Zurich to Rome for this sailing…. And with the cabins priced the same /first come basis, we will be mid-ship in a “balcony” cabin this time vs on deck 4 which we very much enjoyed too (big picture window and ledge wide enough to sit in).

 We LOVE the Star Motor Yachts huge cabins…yes, like suites.  We agree and prefer the living area to be near the window.  I treat the closet like my own dressing room with its terrific size, drawer storage etc. Yes, counter space in the otherwise great bathroom is a bit tight with the his and hers sinks.  We had been on Wind Spirit in Greece many years ago and that was too small for me even from a common areas/lounge space let alone the 188’ vs 277’ cabin size compared to the Motor Yachts.  
 

Can you please advise who the cruise/entertainment director is on Legend now?  We really loved Sin when he was our director on Star Pride in late 2022.  

Well, you should be pleased as Sin is here now. Last night was the crew show. Sin did his shtick in between numbers and I laughed at his tired old jokes as I thought they were like something that I would say if given the job.

[medskis]

YAY. I just told my husband. We are both happy about that. There was a marked difference between what sin added during our November 2022 Caribbean cruise versus a British singer gent on legend in April.

 

We should warn Sin that one of his star Music trivia contest players is about to return. my husband really loves the rock genre music and when Sin hosted that session he said only one time prior had he seen someone have a perfect score. My hubby not only had the titles of the songs but he wrote down who the performers were and then he asked sin “would you like me to add the years too”.  😁😁

 

Sin also conducted dance lessons on board and we did not do too badly learning the merengue from him. Time for a refresher.

 

I know you are ending your cruise but should you see him when you disembark and your device is handy, I am not sure if he would remember us if he sees our photo here.

[St Pete Cruiser]

15 minutes ago, medskis said:

YAY. I just told my husband. We are both happy about that. There was a marked difference between what sin added during our November 2022 Caribbean cruise versus a British singer gent on legend in April.

 

We should warn Sin that one of his star Music trivia contest players is about to return. my husband really loves the rock genre music and when Sin hosted that session he said only one time prior had he seen someone have a perfect score. My hubby not only had the titles of the songs but he wrote down who the performers were and then he asked sin “would you like me to add the years too”.  😁😁

 

Sin also conducted dance lessons on board and we did not do too badly learning the merengue from him. Time for a refresher.

 

I know you are ending your cruise but should you see him when you disembark and your device is handy, I am not sure if he would remember us if he sees our photo here.

We are in the Compass Rose, deck 6, as I post this. I told Sin about your expected arrival March 17. He leaves March 31.

We are back to back as we use to call it. Looking forward to returning to the same ports to do what we didn't do the first week. The overnight in Nice was our favorite and probably won't be repeated. 

Rome was very crowded today, so this come in the winter promotion when it is NOT crowded is not quite accurate. 

[medskis]

Thanks again. I love Compass Rose. We certainly never expected to be on the legend or other this winter but when I saw the move of the ship from the Middle East to the Med at that price and knowing we were in Switzerland already, I just had to do it. It will certainly make packing quite the challenge with two weeks of skiing and then some spring time Nice clothes for the cruise itinerary.

 

We will be skipping Rome that’s for sure. We spent a few days there in 2018 and I had been there previously so no need to return. We will land at Rome airport Saturday night March 16 and stay at the Hilton nearby. We are going to rent a car the next morning and keep it until  Monday late afternoon so we can make little side journeys with the car on the way up to the ship on Sunday and then also head for some lesser known Hill towns while still in Port on Monday.

 

We have a friend in Nice. She visited in Philly at Christmas and she knows we’re going to be there for an overnight so we should have some nice experiences there . Once again we’ve been to a good many of the Côte d’Azur towns previously but always look forward to a return there.

 

I would like to hear what you did in Livorno ? We’ve been a few times in the last 10 years to Tuscany, Sienna , the Cinque Terre, the various wine towns, San Gimignano etc. so we have done it all but we have not been in Florence proper since 2009. Oh Lucc was the more recent discovery and I love it because it is authentic and not as touristy as Pisa. 

 

When we end in Barcelona we will add two more nights there. We’ve spent about a week in Barcelona previously all told in the last 10 years. I would like to try to get to Girona one day this time .

 

Enjoy week 2!! 

[medskis]

St. Pete Cruiser,

 

Hope your second week is going well. I was wondering, where does the ship dock for the port of Nice? Does it dock in Nice or over in Villefranche? We have a friend we will be meeting up with in Nice and wanted to double check locations. Thank you.

[wrk2cruise]

The dark blue lines are the ships track for their port call yesterday.  Bottom line is they dock in Nice proper.  I've seen them dock on the straight section directly across the bay as well.

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

10 hours ago, medskis said:

St. Pete Cruiser,

 

Hope your second week is going well. I was wondering, where does the ship dock for the port of Nice? Does it dock in Nice or over in Villefranche? We have a friend we will be meeting up with in Nice and wanted to double check locations. Thank you.

Good morning from Marseille. Yes, we docked in Nice where you can easily walk into old Nice.

The first week we were at Port Lympia and this week at the closer side.

[medskis]

Thank you.  
Re Marseille, we are looking forward to “actually seeing” Marseille this time.  In sept 2021 when we did our 3 week self drive tour, we landed in Marseille, picked up our rental car and headed east one hour to La Ciotat.  We had wanted to base in Cassis but I could not find the right lodging at the time.  We did visit Cassis one day - we also did a great boat tour of the Calanques, one day we headed further east to a beautiful beach club. So, both times we were around Marseille we had a car full of luggage and did not trust leaving a car parked somewhere in marseille to go touring.  This time we can, although other temptations prevail eg North to somewhere in Provence.

 

 Our 2021 itinerary did have 5 nights in Provence split between Aix-en-Provence (ok but would not return) and the lovely town if L’sle sur la Sorgue from which we had a brief visit to Avignon (exceeded my expectations), Les Baux & St. Remy, and a fantastic day doing a circle tour of 5 Luberon area towns,  
 

in general, our 21 days were a counter clockwise route from the Marseille area 5 hours west/ north to the 12th century walled town of Carcassone, then 3 hours north to Dordogne River Valley for 4 days (magnificent), east 6 hours for the 5 nights in Provence, then a final 6 nights at a nice timeshare apartment just north  of Cannes.  We’ve spent time along the Cote D’Azur previously visiting Eze, Monaco, Villefranche, Antibes, Cannes, St. Paul de Vence and more (but not Nice proper…just our friends condo closer to the airport).

Currently struggling with packing for our departure 2/29.  The 2 weeks in Switzerland have widely varying forecasts ….we will be in the mountains, skiing much of that time.  We found how to DHL our biggest suitcase and up to 50 pounds of mostly ski stuff home from Zurich airport.  Need to focus on packing for 60 degree weather sightseeing, and looking presentable on Windstar evenings.

 

Any chance a tall, very nice waiter named Alljohn (?) is on Legend now?

When we boarded Legend in Miami last Easter, he recognized us from Pride the prior November. 
 

Thanks again.  maryellen 

 

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

2 hours ago, medskis said:

Thank you.  
Re Marseille, we are looking forward to “actually seeing” Marseille this time.  In sept 2021 when we did our 3 week self drive tour, we landed in Marseille, picked up our rental car and headed east one hour to La Ciotat.  We had wanted to base in Cassis but I could not find the right lodging at the time.  We did visit Cassis one day - we also did a great boat tour of the Calanques, one day we headed further east to a beautiful beach club. So, both times we were around Marseille we had a car full of luggage and did not trust leaving a car parked somewhere in marseille to go touring.  This time we can, although other temptations prevail eg North to somewhere in Provence.

 

 Our 2021 itinerary did have 5 nights in Provence split between Aix-en-Provence (ok but would not return) and the lovely town if L’sle sur la Sorgue from which we had a brief visit to Avignon (exceeded my expectations), Les Baux & St. Remy, and a fantastic day doing a circle tour of 5 Luberon area towns,  
 

in general, our 21 days were a counter clockwise route from the Marseille area 5 hours west/ north to the 12th century walled town of Carcassone, then 3 hours north to Dordogne River Valley for 4 days (magnificent), east 6 hours for the 5 nights in Provence, then a final 6 nights at a nice timeshare apartment just north  of Cannes.  We’ve spent time along the Cote D’Azur previously visiting Eze, Monaco, Villefranche, Antibes, Cannes, St. Paul de Vence and more (but not Nice proper…just our friends condo closer to the airport).

Currently struggling with packing for our departure 2/29.  The 2 weeks in Switzerland have widely varying forecasts ….we will be in the mountains, skiing much of that time.  We found how to DHL our biggest suitcase and up to 50 pounds of mostly ski stuff home from Zurich airport.  Need to focus on packing for 60 degree weather sightseeing, and looking presentable on Windstar evenings.

 

Any chance a tall, very nice waiter named Alljohn (?) is on Legend now?

When we boarded Legend in Miami last Easter, he recognized us from Pride the prior November. 
 

Thanks again.  maryellen 

 

 

What a great adventure!.

Yes, he is. I'll ask for a pic later. Marseille from the Notre Dame Cathedral. 

[Strenz]

I have a WS story that started in Marseille. We first saw the masts of the Surf at the ferry port of Marseille, we were going to Corsica, April school vacation 1989. We saw the masts, were over taken by them, had not a clue what they were attached to. We figured could have been Club Med, no interest in Club Med but the masts sent our curiosity flying. We never forgot  the  masts, jump to August 1999 out of nowhere we get a 2 for 1 on the  Wind Surf, on a postcard!  I flew home from my post office showed my husband, 15 minutes later reserved, out of Barbados, Caribbean, 7 days, Sat. after Thanksgiving 1999,( was on a years leave for study from teaching )  we pinched ourselves everyday on the Surf,  now 28 WSs later, the 29 th in April 2025 Canary Islands, N. Africa, my husbands 80 th. We have been thrilled ever since. Happy Sailing. 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Good morning from Barcelona. It is partly cloudy and 50F with a high of only 55F. Sweaters and knit caps for us wimpy Floridians. 

Last night's crew show was fun. Nanda, MDR server, sang beautifully. Synchronized swimmers were crazy funny. 

As promised, Aljon, a server, at the Verandah this morning:

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Our arrival into Barcelona, docking at the WTC location, close to the old city. MSC was the only other cruise ship, docked at the over the bridge cruise terminal. Seabourn and some of the other smaller ships can use the WTC dock.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I’m really enjoying your posts thanks for taking time to do this!  
We are on the Wind Spirit at the end of October Rome to Barcelona Med Island Medley. So while that sailing doesn’t take us to Marseille, our Oceania Vista sailing in the beginning of the month Barcelona to Rome does. 
It’s our first time to this region and debated exploring Marseille or venturing out and decided there was enough to see in Marseille that we’d stay local. 

I’m good for about 6-7 miles of walking (hills & uneven ground are of no issue). I read that bus 60 will take you up to Notre Dame cathedral. Did you by any chance use that?  Are there taxis or Ubers as an alternative?  Thanks in advance😀

[SailingHigher]

We took a bus tour to that cathedral in 2022 when cruising on a new Celebrity ship. It was a gorgeous sunny morning. You won't regret spending time up there rain or shine. I took some of our favorite photos there. After an hour or so, we were dropped at the little soap museum/factory at the harbor. It was great and we still love the soaps we brought back. We then walked, explored, and noshed all over the harbor watching fishermen, tourists, couples, children, and boats. It is easy to enjoy a terrific day or half day whether visiting Marseille by bus tour or taxi.

 

PS - I had very low expectations for Marseille and thought we would see only a busy industrial port. It was a pleasant surprise to spend time in such a pretty, quiet harbor just a mile or two from the cruise dock. I resolved to relax, lower expectations, and be overjoyed as we explore more ports.

[St Pete Cruiser]

On 2/29/2024 at 4:35 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I’m really enjoying your posts thanks for taking time to do this!  
We are on the Wind Spirit at the end of October Rome to Barcelona Med Island Medley. So while that sailing doesn’t take us to Marseille, our Oceania Vista sailing in the beginning of the month Barcelona to Rome does. 
It’s our first time to this region and debated exploring Marseille or venturing out and decided there was enough to see in Marseille that we’d stay local. 

I’m good for about 6-7 miles of walking (hills & uneven ground are of no issue). I read that bus 60 will take you up to Notre Dame cathedral. Did you by any chance use that?  Are there taxis or Ubers as an alternative?  Thanks in advance😀

Yes, bus 60 does. The stop is close to the dock Windstar is using and ends at Notre Dame atop the hill.

[St Pete Cruiser]

From Marseille, you can also use the Metro and an intercity bus to visit Cassis.

The bus has some scenery views from its higher elevation that are beautiful.  Cassis is a pretty smaller seaside port.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Thank you very much for that information. It is much appreciated.