Windstar Wind Spirit Dreams of Tahiti cruise
There’s no denying that getting to Tahiti from the UK is one of the longest journeys you could ever take and we had often wondered if it would be worth it? But Tahiti had been a bucket list destination for us for a long time and what better way to do it than on a magnificent tall ship sailing to all of the Society Islands on a week long cruise.
We joined Windstar’s Wind Spirit after spending a few days staying at the fabulous Intercontinental Tahiti resort and spa in Papeete, allowing us to recover from jet lag and adjust to the 11 hour time difference. The Wind Spirit is a 4-masted sailing yacht with a capacity for 148 but there were only 108 guests on our voyage with more crew than passengers. Windstar have a long history with French Polynesia having sailed these islands for over 35 years and although the Wind Spirit is herself over 30 years old, she still graces the oceans around the islands, sailing under her magnificent sails with her eye-catching silhouette over-shadowing some of her younger rivals.
Being a traditional sailing ship there are no balcony suites on the Wind Spirit, but in all honesty this is one cruise you really want to spend as little time in your suite in as possible, with the Spirit offering lovely little nooks and crannies to hide away in, often making it feel like you are sailing on your very own private yacht. Don’t get us wrong, the suites are still luxurious and comfortable but the two small portholes make the view quite limited and we soon got into the habit of getting out onto the open decks in time to catch the sunrise.
Since we were trying Windstar’s new all-inclusive package which includes pre-paid gratuities, wifi and drinks we completed our check in and headed straight up to the Verandah buffet for a delicious al fresco lunch accompanied by a lovely glass of chilled rose before settling in, spending the day getting to know the ship and the crew before we set sail from Papeete very early the next morning for the short hop over to the neighbouring island of Moorea.
Like us, there were plenty of people out on the open decks at 5am for the first sail of our cruise. A couple of hours later we arrived at our anchorage and were soon getting on the tender to take us across to the island to meet our tour guide and driver for our morning excursion, exploring Moorea in a 4x4. After a short drive along the coast road we headed inland to visit a small vanilla plantation before ascending higher to reach the summit of Magic Mountain. Though the ride to get to the top was very steep, bumpy and hair-raising, it was worth it for the view over Cook and Opunohu bays. Not over yet, the tour took us to another local viewpoint, an old Tahitian temple, a freshwater stream complete with large somewhat over friendly eels, a pineapple farm located in a volcanic crater and a local pearl shop before getting us back to the ship in time for lunch.
After lunch we headed down to the marina to make the most of the chance to swim in the lovely South Pacific Ocean. Though we have been on other ships with marina decks we have never been able to swim in the seas directly from the ship. However, on the Wind Spirit not only can guests take our kayaks or paddle boards (if the conditions are good enough) they can also laze on or swim around the large floats or trampoline attached to the marina. Although we didn’t know it was a bucket list experience, we have to say that swimming in the delightfully warm ocean in French Polynesia now sits high up on the ‘done’ list.
With the memorable moments coming at us thick and fast, the sailaway from Moorea added another to our list of romantic cruise memories. Leaving Cooks bay and heading out to the open sea the crew hoisted the sails to the familiar Windstar musical backdrop ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’ by the Greek electronic composer and artist Vangelis, as we sat and watched the sun set over the sea. The sails stayed up overnight guiding us through the surprisingly choppy seas from Moorea to Raiatea again waking early to catch the sunrise from our favourite spot on the ship, the small sun deck in front of the navigational bridge.
Raiatea is the second largest island of the Society Islands and the only one with a navigable river so we chose to do an excursion led by the traditionally dressed and fully tattooed Tihoti, that took us down the river taking in the flora and fauna, before stopping at a private motu to swim in the shallow corals and eat some delicious freshly cut grapefruit and pineapple. Back on the ship later that day we were joined by some local mamas and papas who played us some traditional Polynesian music while the mamas danced for us before making lai’s for the ladies wrists and demonstrating how to wear a pare-a.
The immersion in Tahtian culture carried on into the evening with a talk from our Tihoti about local culture and the meaning of his tattoos. Then it was time for the signature Windstar deck bbq out on the pool deck followed by the ever popular crew line dance. After a fun evening of food and dancing we decided to take a quick stroll ashore before heading to bed and as it was a Saturday evening there were lots of local families out eating in the cafes and restaurants in the port - we even found some karaoke!
Staying in Raiatea overnight we set sail early the next day for a very short hop to the neighbouring island of Taha’a. Although there were shore excursions to Taha’a this is also the location for another Windstar signature event, the private motu day, so we decided to skip Taha’a and spend the day on the private island instead. We got the first tender over to the island and secured a couple of sun loungers on the beach, under a palm tree, next to the bar, close to all of the water toys and looking out to the bay where the ship was anchored. After a bit of kayaking, a lot of snorkelling and a couple of cocktails it was time for a delicious bbq lunch rendering us incapable of much more than napping on our loungers for the rest of the afternoon.
After such an incredible day in paradise we didn’t think the trip could get much better but later that day we set sail, hoisting our sails for the journey to Bora Bora. Out on the open decks the night sky was so mesmerising, the stars so bright we could even see the Milky Way with the naked eye. We stayed there until we arrived at our anchor at 10pm.
Waking up to the sun rising over the dramatic backdrop of Bora Bora’s two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu we were both excited to go out and explore this incredible iconic island. We had splurged out on a 6 hour Windstar Concierge Collection excursion and along with the 7 other guests on this excursion we headed ashore to meet Ramon, our fabulous guide for the day whose boat was docked right next to the tender. Our first stop of the day was a short boat ride away near the edge of the lagoon where we dropped anchor to snorkel with blacktip sharks, before moving to a shallower spot to pet some stingrays. Back on the boat Ramon took us on a long ride around the whole lagoon pointing out all of the luxury hotels and the overwater bungalows dotted around the lagoon. Our final snorkel stop was the other side of the island, home to the most amazing coral garden we have ever seen. Weaving our way through the coral we were joined by an abundance of tropical fish and luminescent clams.
All snorkelled out, we got back on the boat for a little ride over to a private motu where lunch was waiting for us. We each took a plate made of leaves and loaded it up with traditional Polynesian Fayre before heading to the picnic tables located in the water. We sat and ate our lunch with our feet dangling in the water, fish swimming around us, stingrays gliding over our feet and sharks circling the shallow waters waiting for our leftovers. Once we had finished our lunch Ramon gathered us together for a quick song before showing us how they use the abundantly available coconuts to provide them with kindling, coconut water, freshly grated fruit and coconut milk. He finished off by cracking open a chilled young coconut for us all to enjoy some fresh coconut water. Alas, all good things must come to an end and reluctantly we all boarded the boat to leave this magical island and head back to the ship.
That evening we had booked to eat in the al fresco specialty restaurant, Candles, which is the Verandah transformed into a complimentary, reservation-only romantic evening venue with a steak and seafood themed menu. The evening was gorgeous with very little wind and a starry sky, complemented by excellent service, a couple of glasses of perfectly paired wine and a delicious meal. We finished dinner just in time for one of the highlights of any Windstar cruise, the crew talent show, which, as usual, was amazing. The funny, talented crew kept us entertained and laughing throughout with the finale from the fabulous Bar Street Boys dance group!
(For more information about Candles restaurant please take a look at our Star Legend Dining guide )
With an overnight in Bora Bora we had nothing planned for our second full day there, so after a more leisurely breakfast we headed ashore. Since we had seen Bora Bora by boat yesterday we decided to try and see some of it from land today and concluded that the best way to do that was to hire a couple of bicycles and cycle from the town to the only public beach on the island, about 7km away. We found the Avis hire centre located next to the tender docking station and within half an hour we were on bikes making our way out of town and along the coast road on our way to the infamous Bloody Mary’s bar where we stopped off for a couple of Bloody Marys before mounting our bikes again and headed further along the coast road, rounding the peninsula leading to the gorgeous public beach. We cycled all the way along the beach to the gorgeous Bora Bora Beach Club bar where we stopped for a deliciously cold local beer savoured while overlooking the gorgeous blue seas and white sands of Matira bay. Although we could have stayed there longer, we had to get our bikes back so we paid up and started the long ride back to town and our tender back to the ship.
That evening we had another Windstar signature event, an evening on the nearby Conrad Nui private motu. We started early with a late afternoon drink or two out on the pool deck before taking one of the two catamarans that would take us to the private island. We arrived just in time for the sunset which we enjoyed on the beautiful sand bank with a maitai in our hands. Once the sun had set it was time for dinner, a delicious traditional Polynesian buffet which was followed by an incredible dance and flame throwing show. At 8pm we all headed back to the ship for an overnight sailing to our next destination, Huahine, while the party continued out on the pool deck with Jeffrey, our on board entertainer, leading the party.
After the gentlest night of sailing of the whole voyage, we were up at the crack of dawn for the sail into Huahine where we docked in a lovely little bay in between the two islands of Huahine Ite and Huahine Nui, with the Tahitian gods treating us to the best sunrise of the whole voyage. As this was our last full day of the cruise we decided to stay on board and enjoy the amazing 360 degree view and scenery from the gorgeous Wind Spirit. At mid morning we changed into our swimming gear and headed down to the marina deck and since we were the only ones there we had a lot of fun messing around on the kayaks and floatables before heading back up to the pool deck for swim in the very temperate ‘pool’ and hot jacuzzi while drinking a refreshing strawberry daiquiri.
We stayed out on deck all afternoon slowly being joined by other guests as they came back from their tours. At 5pm the Captain announced that we were setting sail for the last time and we had the usual sail raising ceremony followed by a rather moving rendition of ‘Its time to say goodbye’. As if that wasn’t enough later that evening we had the Captains farewell party, where most of the crew came out and sang us a wonderful rendition of ‘We are sailing’, very touching and a great chance to thank them all for all of their hard work.
So, was it worth it? Most definitely, yes. Despite us having such high expectations of the cruise ad the destination, both managed to exceed our expectations. Yes, it’s a long way to go but it is such a special place that if you get the chance to visit, grab it with both hands. And a cruise is the best way to see all of the islands without having to fly, giving you a taste of them all. It was the most romantic cruise we have ever taken and though its a once in a lifetime cruise, we really hope we get the chance to visit again one day.
Thank you to our preferred travel partners Panache cruises and Windstar Cruises who hosted us on this Dreams of Tahiti cruise and paid our all-inclusive cruise fare. All other costs were covered by ourselves including the flights to get to and from Tahiti, our pre-cruise stay at the Intercontinental Tahiti resort and spa, our transfers hotel and our shore excursions. Neither Windstar cruises 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 review of our pre-cruise stay at the Intercontinental Tahiti resort and spa, our Air Tahiti Nui flights or our ship tour from a previous cruise on board Windstar Star Legend. 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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