Windstar Cruises innovative $250 Million Star Plus Initiative moved off the drawing board and into reality this week as the first steel was cut. It’s a milestone event in the life of any cruise ship. If I stopped the tale right there, it could be filed away with all the other steel cut stories we have highlighted here. But this is Windstar, where all elements of travel by ship are looked at a bit differently.

Windstar’s $250 Million Star Plus Initiative is a small ship lengthening, engine replacement, and renovation project, the largest ever undertaken in cruising. Just how large?

The three 212-passenger Windstar motor ships will be cut in half and pulled apart. Then, a new mid-body section will be added, lengthening each vessel by about 82 feet. In the process, the new ‘stretched’ ships will accommodate 312 guests. To ensure the cruise line’s impressive 1.5 to 1 guest-to-service staff ratio, more crew will be added as well.

Other posts mentioning the steel cutting event refer to an entirely new ship built from scratch, the steel cut here is for the new section that will be added. Those will be built in Trieste and then will be transported south by barge to the Fincantieri yard in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Once there, they will be inserted into the iconic Windstar ships along with new engines.

The timeline requires the new sections to be fabricated from April through September, shipped in October, and then inserted into Star Breeze so that she can be completed in time for her arrival for re-inaugural activities at the port of Miami on March 19, 2020.

Be First To Experience

Reservations are open for cruises after construction is complete aboard Star Breeze and Star Legend including Star Breeze’s (also new) Colors of Key West & Central America 10-day voyage from Miami to Colón, Panama on March 20, 2020.

Sailing from Miami, that particular voyage will be a first for Seattle-based Windstar Cruises.

To learn more about authentic small ship cruising with Windstar or to book a cruise, contact your travel agent or Windstar Cruises by phone at 1-800-258-7245, or visit www.windstarcruises.com.