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Wind Spirit

Excellent Experience

Pago Pago

This was my 80th birthday present and travelled with my 79 year old wife. We are both active and have no mobility issues as the vessel has no elevators. We have been to Hawaii a half dozen times, but Tahiti has always been on my list. We are experienced travelers having spent time in six continents. I did a lot of research and Windstar seemed to fit the the bill for us.  We are from Maine and have a boat on the ocean so the sailing aspect had some attraction. We booked it ourselves. The boarding process worked well. Our cabin was on level 2. Any concerns we had about storage went away as we were able to store all of the contents of both bags in drawers with space under the beds for the bags.  We didn't feel that the room was too small. We chose the extended package of beverages, internet and gratuities. We also has $100 each of ship credits.  We used those for Christmas presents as we found that priced in the ship store were not unreasonable as compared to local shops.  At the end of the cruise our additional charges were zero. We did tip the room attendant, waiter and bartender extra with USD because of our exceptional service.  We ate four of our five nights in Amphora at the same table with the same excellent waiter and bartender. The fifth night was in Candles.  We totally enjoyed the food and service,  Lunch was buffet style but there were specialty items were available.  Can't  say enough positive about the captain and his team. They were always friendly and appeared to like what they were doing.  Bar service both at the meals and at the pool bar were good along with a stocked mini bar in the room. We took several of the shore excursions. We took the around the island tour on Bora Bora and in retrospect should have done the Lagoon tour. The islands themselves were the real stars and this was the best way to see them. The two island events were outstanding.  We were very happy campers! We didn't  partake in a lot of the evening events.

Hubbie and I booked this to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It is the best value for money to see the French Polynesian islands hands down. The crew was outstanding and the mix/ diversity of guests was wonderful. Made some life long friendships in just 7 days. Loved the semi-casual nature of the ship, the itinerary, excursion options, entertainment and food on the private motus and of course the sail always! We are going to book our next cruise to the med for 2024 any day now. Wind Spirit is a small intimate ship that feels like your private yacht. Shout out to the hotel manager Claire, our room attendant Rashyid and Charlie who makes great coffee all day. 

Book it now. Don’t hesitate. You only live once. 

Only 2 suggestions are improving the WiFi and providing some spicier sauces for some of the food. Food is excellent but would have preferred more spice for my palate. I guess they cater to a wide range of tastes and so have to be a bit conservative.

Excellent job Belinda and crew!

See you again soon, Jason and Britt!

Trip of a lifetime

The excellence of this experience is the result of the combination of superior service on all staff levels, exceptional dining, quality cabins and the many adventures you may partake all while visiting the most idyllic island and oceanic scenery. 

The following are included at no additional expense:

-	A Deck Party night means your meal will be provided under the stars as you dine on a lavish meal followed by dancing with the crew members,

-	Specialty dining at Candles allows you to experience fully the James Beard award winning menu while you dine in an intimate setting with extremely attentive staff, 

-	The day you visit Taha be transported to a private island where a luncheon of great variety featuring some of the regional foods is provided as you listen local entertainment, play on the kayaks or SUP all are included; 

-	On the second day of your stop in Bora Bora you may choose to be transported again to a private island where from mid-morning to late afternoon you can enjoy supervised water sports and possibly the most beautiful beach you have ever experienced;  

-	Also on the second day of your stop over in Bora Bora you will receive an invitation providing your early evening tender time by catamaran to the same private island where on arrival you will receive a fresh flower lei as live musical entertainment accompanies a full course Polynesian themed dinner including open flamed lobster, and followed by a cultural show of singing and fire dancing. 

-	During your entire voyage take advantage of the full menu of room service items that are delivered promptly and have a great variety, a perfect day for you might just include that eggs benedict for breakfast in your cabin,

-	Snorkel equipment is available, 

The WHY wouldn’t you…

1.	Do not hesitate to pre-purchase the beverage, wifi, and prepaid gratitude package.  It will pay for itself each day with the convenience and having looked at the cost/benefit, I can assure you it is “worth” it. 

2.	Use the water sports platform open at the rear of the ship to further enjoy being in or on the water. 

3.	Don’t miss “Sail Away” when the sails are opened and they crank out 1492, Conquest of paradise by Vangelis and you glaze around you with the realization you are in paradise. 

4.	AND pick Windstar, as there were only 108 passengers on our cruise, so no lines, no fussing and many opportunities to meet other savvy travelers. In fact, the passengers from another ship were outwardly expressing their desire to be on our ship when we met them in Moorea. 

Excursions, the expense and the variety

There is great variety of excursions offered and available to you with your booking at a simple “click” you add them to your vacation. You may be “offended” by their costs so you might explore independent tour operators to receive the same or even extended (better) experience at less cost. We arranged several tours and transfers with Michael Faye of Marama Tours, and saved.

First, examine your itinerary with care, as you may agree there is no need to book and pay for an excursion on the days when a private island is included. 

There is a unique opportunity to book a full day touring during the first day of the Bora Bora stop-over, the last tender aboard will not be to the evening (8:30 pm on our trip). 

On our full day in Bora Bora, as provided by Marama for $131 USD pp,  we did a combination of three snorkel stops (rays and sharks, angel rays, tropical fish) with a visit to a beach, Polynesian style lunch with picnic tables in the water, a pareo making demonstration (and choice for $10 to make one of your own), and a coconut show which was much more fun and interesting than imagined, finally we walked the isthmus to the ocean side of the lagoon for some more fabulous scenery. Along the way you will have the opportunity to photograph the most beautiful scenery as you travel the lagoon. 

Another sample of savings to be found was the incredibly informative tour by Marama, of Tahiti which was of around 4 hours and not only circled the island but made many stops for $50 USD pp.  

The little things that do count…

-Laundry, we paid $45 for an entire bag (a weeks’ worth of clothing) that was returned to us the same night on ship. 

-Arrive before your departure date and adjust to the time difference, weather and consider taking a Tahiti tour before you sail away.

- You can bring only a carry-on, yes, casual clothing only needed.

- Bring double the amount of sun lotion.

- Disregard all the writings lamenting the high cost of everything in Tahiti and her islands, as west coasters and having visited Hawaii, the costs are not much more than at home or if going to a restaurant in the city for dinner.

Happy travels, love to Wind Spirit…ever in our memory.

Fabulous Windstar

This ship does not seem to have a lot of recent reviews so I will leave one. We did the 10-day Tuamoto cruise coupled with the regular 7-day Society Islands (Bora Bora etc.) cruise, so we were on the ship for 17 days in total. Another 20 or so of our fellow cruisers did the same thing, so we got to know a number of people during our time on-board.

We really enjoyed the itinerary, the crew, the islands, and the ship itself. No complaints on the food. I eat vegan so I had to work with the staff to get something to eat at dinner each day, but they were very helpful. Over time I hope Windstar adds a vegan option to the menu but since I was the only vegan on the boat I really could not ask for better service. Lots of veggies and fresh fruit made lunch and breakfast easy.

We booked a number of SCUBA diving excursions, with the ship for several and then one we booked on our own. We were on our own at Fakarava, where we dove with Kaina Plongee dive center. The diving there was amazing, as it also was on Rangiroa, Bora Bora, and Moorea. Booking with the ship is more expensive but it is very nice having a dive boat pick you up and drop you off right at the ship. Snorkeling is great too but if you are certified, I highly recommend booking as many SCUBA days as you can.

We also did the Sacred Sites tour on Raiatea and the 4x4 tour on Bora Bora, these were both very good options for seeing the sites above water. The best "excursions" though were the motu beach days that the ship offers at no extra charge. Beautiful beaches with shade and snorkeling

Some minor things I would like to see changed on this cruise:

1) Earlier dinner time (vs 7PM) would be appreciated. We are early diners and sleepers so 6PM would be much better for us.

2) Disposable water bottles are everywhere on this cruise and they should not be. Give guests a souvenir water bottle and refill it as needed. Ditto for the small plastic shampoo bottles in the cabins -- get rid of them please.

We had 110 passengers the first segment and about 120 for the second segment. We were advised to wear masks inside, but many chose not to. We did hear that four people were diagnosed with COVID on the second segment and were confined to their cabins. Overall we felt very safe on the cruise, although we did wear our masks indoors and on the tenders.

Entertainment-wise, we had a couple on the first segment that knew FP very well and served as on-board guides. Their presentations were very good. On the second segment we had a piano player, nice guy but he was a terrible performer. I would suggest WS stick to people like the couple, destination experts rather than entertainers.

One last note, this ship has stairs for access to every deck. No elevators. We like that as we skip the stairs even on big ships, but if you are disabled this would be a problem. It's a small ship but there is no getting around the stairs.

The best way to tour French Polynesia

Everything about this cruise was perfect except for the weather. December is apparently the rainy season, something I didn't realize when I booked. So be warned. It didn't ruin the experience, but more sun and less clouds and rain would have been nice.

The best weather we had was the 3 days we spent at the Tahiti Pearl Beach Resort for 3 days before the cruise.

Embarkation was fast and efficient.The ship is a little tired, but I understand it's about to go into dry dock soon for some much needed sprucing up. Still, everything was clean and the wonderful crew more than made up for this. We loved that the ship had around 120 passengers and enjoyed getting to know many of our ship mates. The food was outstanding. Breakfast and lunch are mainly buffet style but there are things you can order off the menu. Enormous variety of food and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is possible to maintain healthy eating and also to totally be a glutton if you so desire. Dinner in Amphora restaurant is excellent. It is open seating and you can choose to be seated with others if you want. We met some really nice people. The service is excellent. Our only disappointment was the 'special' dinner in the Candles restaurant where the food was sub par. I would skip it next time although maybe they were just having an off night.

If you are looking for ritzy entertainment and casino type things you won't like this cruise. There is a duo in the lounge at night and they were very good, but it may be too low key for some. There was line dancing on deck one night and a Polynesian show on an Island one night both of which were fun.

The itinerary is perfect, you get to see a lot of different islands. If you like shopping, you won't find too much to buy except black pearl things.

We did a snorkeling or water based excursion every day. They were all good but expensive. We should have done less. The snorkeling was good but the reefs they take you to have been damaged by too many tourists. I'm sure there are many unspoiled reefs, but don't expect to see them on these tours. I can understand why they would take tourists only to certain spots given that you see people doing stupid things like standing on the coral. Also I really objected to the fact that on some of the tours they fed the rays and then just tossed the excess fish parts in the water which attracts black tipped reef sharks. I read that this is illegal inside the reef but they do it anyway. The guides assured us the sharks are benign, but they are sharks and it seems irresponsible to feed them or attract them. Also some of them were about 5 feet so if they decide to bite you it would be bad news. Our best tour was the jet ski around Bora Bora. It was AMAZING and 2 hours went by in a flash. Worth every penny!

I would go on this cruise or a similar one again but in the non-rainy season.

Perfect in every way, except the weather!

Quick back round.  This was our 37 cruise, the 6th to Tahiti, once on Princess, 2 on Oceania, 1 on Wind Star and 1 on Holland America.  This 17 days on Wind Spirit were far and away the best for the following reasons.

Wind Spirit at most has only has 140 passengers.  This cruise was really a 10 day followed by a 7 day cruise.  Neither cruise was sold out and only 25 of us opted for the 17 day trip.  

--Overview of the Wind Spirit--

The ship is small which makes it easy explore and the passengers range in age from mid 30's to around 70.  No children, no scooters, no O2 tanks and no elevators, just lots of stairs to climb getting around the ship.  All the cabins but the owners suite are exactly the same with two large port holes, no balconies or inside cabins.  Lots of storage, nice sized bathroom.  The only minor complaint is that the bed takes up most of the room on the port hole side, making getting into bed on that side a little tricky while at sea.  Speaking of the port holes you get quite a show if you're on deck 1 when the seas are a little rough.  Looking out as the waves crash against the glass port holes is something we have never experienced before!!

--Wind Spirit Staff and Crew--

Ok, every member from your cabin steward to the Captain are friendly, outgoing and somehow are able to remember your name after just one day onboard.  Our waiter of choice was Achmed.  The dinners are open seating and you can sit with other passengers or just as a couple.  We always sat requesting Achmed's station.  As for bar tenders John and Gerber were top notched.  You only had to make eye contact with either of them and your favorite adult beverage soon appeared.  We had 2 Matre'd, Rafi who left after the 10 days segment and Prasi who replaced him 7 days.  Both gentlemen could not do enough and every request was met with a smile and a "No problem."  Cabin stewart was great,reception desk with Nicola and Jenn were great at fixing the few minor problems we had.  Reyni in the shop was very helpful and pleasant every time we stop in.  Exploring the open bridge was fun, questioning the Chief Officer Paul about how the ship navigated and other workings that you don't normally have access to was interesting.

--Dining--

Didn't use room service, didn't need too as breakfast, lunch and dinner were fabulous.

Breakfast and lunch were in the Veranda.  It's a hike from deck 1, up four flights of stairs.  Dinner in the Amphora restaurant.  Breakfast and lunch had a hot and cold buffet and every day there was a hot dish made fresh for you.  Limited menu at both breakfast and lunch.  Now dinner was wonderful.  With the casual dress code there was no need to have fancy clothes, just a collared shirt and long pants for men and women to dress smartly.  The food was excellent from start to finish.  The dining room is a little loud but never crowded.  Never had to wait more than a minute or two to get a table.  On two nights, one for each cruise, they have a full scale buffet dinner outside on the top deck.  Food there was great too.  

--Entertainment--

This is easy, they only have a duo in the lounge for a few hours every night.  No Broadway production, comedian, magician or animal tricks.  Really didn't miss it.  The one thing that was not mentioned about this cruise was that the casino had been removed and replaced with a coffee shop.  Didn't bother me but my honey always likes to play the slots while cruising.  That being said, I had lots and lots of extra cash on hand, a big chuck of it spent on black pearls!!

--Shore Excursions--

Didn't take many from the ship as we had seen just about every thing on our prior 5 cruises around Tahiti.  Did do the stingray and shark snorkeling on Bora-Bora which was fun and do not miss the Faaroa River and Motu beach break if the guide is Tihoti.  Tihoti is pure Tahitian, covered with tattoos and a wonderful story teller.  His insight in the Tahitian life style that is now changing due to the internet and outside influence is both enlightening and sad.  He is not to be missed!!

--Odds and Ends--

Didn't use the fitness center, it's very small.  Used the swim platform at the rear of the ship several times and it's a great way to take a dip, go waterskiing, use the kayaks or the small sail boat.  --Beverage Package-- Did not originally want it but since the casino wasn't there I took it for myself.  It included all the top shelf hard liquor, Grey Goose, Chivas, Makers Make, all beers both imported and domestic, wine and also the mini-bar in the room!!  They also discounted whole bottles of wine by 30% which you could share with the wife in the dining room.  Pricing on the bottles of wine was crazy cheap considering it was on a cruise ship, a nice bottle of Napa Valley merlot was $26.00!!  I know, if you buy the package you are going to drink a lot more than if you are paying for each drink but remember, you're on vacation, don't have to drive the boat and your cabin is just minutes away.

--Summary--

Getting to Tahiti from the east coast is a bear.  We flew out two days before from NC, stayed overnight in LA.  Flew Air Tahiti leaving at 4:15 pm and arrived in Tahiti at 10:00 pm.  Stayed there in a BnB and met the ship the following afternoon. 

This isn't an inexpensive vacation.  The air fare is steep, around $4800 for r/t from NC.  When you visit Tahiti and see just how beautiful it is, now friendly and honest the Tahitians I think you'll believe it was money all spent.  So, suck it up and make plans to go to Tahiti.  You will not regret it.  We did shed a tear or two while leaving the ship as mostly likely this will be our last trip to the wonderful place.  You should really make a point to get out and mingle with the Tahitians away from the crowds.  They are honest, friendly and even thru we don't speak French or Tahitian they do like to spend time with you.

17 Days in Paradise

We just returned from our cruise. Fantastic in all ways.  Our airplane was cancelled  2 days in a row by Air Tahiti Nui (a whole other matter) and we would not be arriving to Tahiti until 1 hour after the sailing time.  We called Windstar to see how to meet the ship in Moorea.  They got involved with the air company even though we did not book our air through them.  Customer service was amazing and they held the ship in port until we arrived.  I would not hesitate to book them again.

The whole cruise experience, Room, Food, Service is top notch. I even lost my souveniors while tendering and did not realize until I returned I did not have them.  They had it in lost and found and are sending them back to me at home.   AMAZING!

The ship itself is a little worn but very well kept.  If you are a snorkeler, the water is so clear and beautiful anywhere we went.  The private islands were just what you would think paradise should be.  Nothing was too much to ask of anyone.  I can't imagine visiting all the places we did with room and food for less money that we paid for the cruise- as long as you can pay a discounted rate.

Excellent Customer Service and Cruise

I have wanted to go to Tahiti and the surrounding islands since I read  "Mutiny on the Bounty" and saw the movie over 50 years ago. This has been number 1 on my bucket list and after seeing advertisements for Windstar over the years it just seemed the perfect way to see these spectacular islands and it REALLY was. I won't do a lengthy review as more than enough people on this site have already done so and I concur with all the superlatives. Great food, great destinations, and an EXCELLENT crew that are so very helpful and generally just really very nice. Customer service to the max! A special shout out to Nicola and Kristy that handle most of the day to day customer service items and excursions. And another shout out to Shane for taking people to the Motos for the wonderful island lunches and dinners as well as other excursions. Also the food service/wait staff are incredible and we enjoyed every meal we had on board. The only concern (and it is minor) is that if someone has mobility issues with walking, the stairs may present a problem. Unlike the big ships Wind Spirit does not have an elevator so that may be an issue for some people. I would advise someone to stay no lower than deck 2 if you have an problems with stairs. A fantastic cruise that lived up to every one of our expectations and then some. Highly recommend!!!

#1 BUCKET LIST CHECKED OFF WITH BIRTHDAY CRUISE ON WINDSTAR!!!!

My husband has always wanted to go to Bora Bora and our travel agent  told us of this spectacular way to see Bora Bora and French Polynesia.  We weren’t disappointed.  The Wind Spirit ship and crew are equally as amazing.  We enjoyed all aspects of this cruise and bar none it was the best of the four cruises (Disney, Royal Carribean, Celebrity) we done so far.  Everything from the crew, the ship, the food and the  accommodations  were five star all the way.  You will not be disappointed.  They have everything very well organized and nothing is too much trouble for them to do for the guests.  We even got Canadian news delivered to our stateroom everyday.  That was a nice touch.  I liked that the dinner dress code was ‘dress casual’ in the dining room.  One night they do a bbq on the deck and shorts are acceptable.  Also, they take you to a private motu in Bora Bora for a buffet dinner and show and you can also wear shorts that night.  

Can’t think of anything that could be improved.  We were very satisfied.  Enjoy!

Amazing

This was my second Wind Star cruise and like most always wanted to experience Tahiti since I was a boy and Mutiny on the Bounty.  Luckily I have a friend who lives in San Diego (Carolyn) and she also wanted to go so no worry about the single supplement and as we fly from LAX this was perfect.  We did the air, hotel, cruise from Wind Star and was very pleased with all aspects of the package except dealing with any information for  the air portion was difficult at best. I did better with the 8 hour flight than I thought as they fed us twice and we had good selection of movies on the seat back.  Landed and customs was easy and bus was waiting to take us to the Intercontinental Hotel and this was 6 am and I was worried that our room would not be  ready but our keys were ready and they delivered our luggage promptly. Room was nicer than I expected and we had a view of the water from our balcony and Moorea across the way.  Had the buffet breakfast which was included as well as next mornings and were amazed at the beautiful water and reef so close and waves breaking over it.  Rested that day and early afternoon next day bus took us to the ship.  Easy check in as there were 142 passengers and no problem getting to our room 231 which was upgraded from 1st floor as I had sailed with Wind Star before. Room was forward but was convenient to areas we always ended up.  Everything about crew that other reviewers have posted is true and especially Achmed who always took care of us at breakfast and lunch and at dinner on the Motu.  Edison and John were two bartenders who always offered a cold Hinano when they saw me on deck or on the Island,  the captain was most friendly and gave report each morning which was very informative and we enjoyed talking with him at the past guest party.  I am experienced with the Caribbean so was not able to find much  info about our ports as Tahiti is different and ports do not really have that many tourists so the beaches are on the Motu's and luckily we spent the day on two. We took a tour around Bora Bora and made usual stop at Bloody Mary's for a cold beer and flush handle in Men's room is "different".  Finally we had to leave ship and I wondered what time we would be able to get in our day room at hotel.  Once again room was ready and what a relief to not have to sit and wait for later in the day.  Flight back was fine and our trip was over.  If I was to go again I would schedule more excursions from the ship to see more of the islands we were at and more snorkel chances.  Pearl shops everywhere and Carolyn bought a necklace which is a good item to bring back from Tahiti. For the guys wondering the beer in Tahiti (Hinano) is very good. Was a trip of a lifetime and was higher cost than any other trip I have taken but was worth it to experience this beautiful part of the world.  The Tahitian people are very friendly and what a great experience, and thanks to Carolyn for coming along as otherwise I would never have the chance to experienced this beautiful part of the world,  Wind Spirit was the perfect to experience Tahiti and fully recommend it to those who are debating this trip.

Wonderful

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