Overview
Windstar Cruises, owned by Xanterra Travel Collection, is the small-ship and sailing-yacht specialist with a fleet of 6 ships — three sail-assisted four-masted yachts (Wind Surf, Wind Spirit, Wind Star) and three powered yachts (Star Pride, Star Breeze, Star Legend). Headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Mediterranean, Caribbean, French Polynesia, and Costa Rica are the primary markets.
For seafarers
Crew contracts run 4-6 months with high-tier pay. The sail-assisted vessels have an unusual marine-deck workload — sail handling alongside conventional ship operations — so deck-officer experience on Windstar is a portable specialist credential. Guest count is small (around 150-350 per ship), so service is highly personal. French Polynesia deployment (Wind Spirit) is a long-tenure niche with multi-month rotations.
Watch for
Sail-assisted operations require additional certification and aptitude — not every deck officer will be comfortable with sail handling. Small ship size means small crew complement, so cross-rank coverage is more common than on larger ships.