Windstar Star Legend Star Suite explored
Earlier this month we were invited by Windstar Cruises to cruise on Star Legend, one of their 3 ships that have recently undergone a $300million lengthening and renovation. With the insertion of a whole new section of ship Windstar introduced a new category of suite, the Star Suite. We stayed in suite 631, one of the brand new Star suites located on deck six in the new mid ship section. This suite was unlike any other suite we have stayed in on a cruise ship with a different, and in our opinion, inspired suite layout. From the corridor all of the suites are paired up with a little entrance hall down to the two entrance doors. This means that the entrance door to each suite is at an angle which is great as it gives you a lovely open feeling and view of the suite as you walk into it.
Upon walking into the Star suite you are greeted by a very welcoming seating area with a large sofa and two individual chairs with a large mirror on the wall behind them. There is a little minibar and drinks area with a well stocked fridge (soft drinks are complimentary, alcoholic drinks chargeable), two glass water carafes and a glasses cabinet stocked with a tumblers, tall glasses, wine glasses and champagne. There is also an ice bucket which without fail was replenished every morning with fresh ice, perfect to add to the sodas. In the middle is a small table adorned with a small fruit bowl and a pretty rose vase, also handily, the perfect size for the room service trays. This area is surprisingly roomy and we found it a really useful, comfortable and usable space. I particularly enjoyed having enough space to be able to do my little Apple workouts here, having a bit of a public gym phobia!
Leading off of the sitting area, beside the entrance door are two further doors, one leading to a small walk in closet and the other to the bathroom. The closet is not massive but it has quite a lot of hanging space, a few awkward shaped open shelves which sit in the angle of the entrance door and a small three drawer unit also housing a large safe. All suites are also equipped with an umbrella and a robe and spa slippers. Though the closet doesn’t have much drawer space there are massive drawers at the bottom of the bed and three small drawers in each of the bedside tables.
The other door leads in to the bathroom, which though not huge is a lovely size, housing a large walk in shower and a double basin. There is a large mirror above the sinks with storage shelves under and a magnifying mirror to one side. The shower has both a handheld shower head and a large rainfall shower head with lovely L’Occitaine bottles of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. There were two things about this bathroom that I absolutely adored - the ultra fluffy bathmat and the way I could stand in the shower and see through the suite to the sea outside. There’s few things more lovely than a bathroom with a sea view and this one works a treat!
Behind the seating area and separated by a lovely cream muslin privacy curtain (which creates a very romantic atmosphere when it is pulled each evening by the magnificent room stewards) is the bedroom area. This is directly in front of the small patio doors which open out to a small balcony, almost a Juliet balcony but with just enough room to stand on and see down the side off the ship. Although the balcony is small the size of the ship means that when you open the balcony doors it really brings the outdoors into the suite, which is especially lovely in such a small ship where all of the suites are relatively close to the sea.
Though we are in one of the new style suites with the bed near the balcony there are still a number of suites with the bed located near the bathroom and the seating area near the balcony if that is your preference. In the refit all of the bathrooms were complexity re-fitted with most of them having the baths removed and replaced by large walk-in showers, in line with more modern preferences. However, some suites still have baths so if this is your reference make sure you check the deck plans carefully and choose a suite with a bath rather than a shower.
The things we loved about our suite:-
The best thing about the design of the suite for me was that you could stand in the shower and see the sea.
The bathroom is modern and luxurious. We loved the ultra fluffy bath mat, the large refillable L’Occitaine toiletries and the cushioning plastic ring around the toilet seat lid which means that closing the toilet lid is a near on silent affair.
We loved the privacy curtain which is always pulled by the room stewards at night giving the room a very romantic and cosy vibe, especially when they use the subtle lighting to create a nice dimly lit night time mood.
There are plenty of USB charging points, including high speed chargers on both sides of the bed and at the vanity desk area at the bottom of the bed.
The hairdryer is good and the large vanity mirror is well lit, with a magnifying mirror in the bathroom if needed.
The walk in wardrobe is small but adequate and means that clothes are easily accessible but separate from the main room and the safe located in there is large and holds a full size laptop.
There is a very well stocked minibar with a range of glasses, an ice bucket which is refilled very morning and two bottles of water which are refilled twice a day.
We loved the view from the bed and the daily pillow chocolate left every evening when we retired to our room.
The things we were less enamoured with:
Despite the variety of lighting in the suite there was no night light in bathroom which we like, especially given the long walk from the bed to the bathroom at night.
Although we loved the fluffy bath mat the towels were of the small variety, a bug bare of mine. Hand towels need to be large enough to wrap around ones head and bath towels should be large enough to feel luxurious when wrapped around your body!
The walk in wardrobe has a noisy extractor which meant that you had to continually remember to shut the closet door to ensure the noise didn’t bother you.
There is no full length mirror in the entire suite, there is a large wall mirror in the seating area but this is more of a piece of art than a mirror, being covered in gold pattern. Although it is better than nothing it would be nice to have proper full length mirror on the back of the wardrobe or bathroom door.
For those guests that absolutely must have a balcony to sit out on this one won’t cut the muster, you would need to book one of the larger suites (see below).
As an aside:
The stretch has involved adding 10 new suites on deck 3 which are entry level Star Suites offered at the lowest price point having three small port hole windows. The suites are the same size as all of the other suites but they come in cheaper having a limited view. On deck 4 the suites are still the same size but have a large picture window rather than opening doors, with the French balcony suites being on decks 5 and 6. There are only 9 larger size suites, with the next category up from the Star suite being the Deluxe classic suite of which there is one on each of floor 4, 5 and 6, located midship near the central elevator. As with the other suites on these floors the one on deck 4 has an ocean view window and the ones on deck 5 and 6 have French balconies. For a larger balcony there are two classic suites at the bow of deck 5 which have a small balcony to the side of the ship. One deck up on deck 6 are two Owners suites both at the bow of the ship with a small forward facing balcony overlooking the forward hot tub on deck 5. The largest suites are the midship owners suites on deck 6 which can be configured as a one, two or even three bedroom suite with a large lounge area, bar and dining room and a private mid ship balcony.
Thank you to our preferred travel partners Panache cruises and Windstar Cruises who invited us to join the Star Legend on a 12 day Spain, Portugal and Canary Islands cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon in November 2021. Windstar cruises paid our cruise fare, drinks package and wifi package, all other costs were covered by ourselves and neither Windstar or Panache had any editorial control over any of our content, either before, during our after our voyage.
If you enjoyed this blog why not take a look at our Regent Seven Seas Explorer ship tour.
If you are interested in booking a cruise with these or any other luxury cruise lines then we would recommend contacting a connoisseur at our trusted cruise partners Panache cruises - please mention that you have been referred to them through Visit With Us.
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