Star Pride Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We did a 14-day cruise from Aruba to Costa Rica aboard Windstar Cruises’ Star Pride starting November 28, 2015. This was our first voyage aboard Star Pride. Our previous three Windstar cruises were all on the Wind Surf, which we love. Star Pride feels a bit smaller than the Surf. The Veranda, which serves breakfast and lunch and has indoor and outdoor seating, is located at the rear of the Pride, as opposed to mid-ship on the Surf, and doubles as Candles Restaurant at night. Since it was often windy, guests could choose to eat inside or brave the elements outside. We sat outside most days and for our three Candles dinners, finding a sheltered area each time.
Staterooms aboard the Pride are all suites, much larger than staterooms on the Surf. However, there was no room to walk between the foot of the bed and the vanity / desk when someone was sitting there. This was the only issue I had with the room. The bathroom is quite spacious for a cruise ship. It has a bathtub with a shower, and a double sink. The walk-in closet has hanging rods along one side and along the rear wall, a small dresser, and a safe. We loved the location of our stateroom, 437, located at the end of the hall on Deck 4. It was the closest room to the embarkation door, and right next to the mid-ship elevators and spiral staircase. One floor down was the AmphorA for dinner, one floor up to Reception and the Lounge. It was also adjacent to the Deck 4 public bathrooms, which came in quite handy many mornings!
Unlike the Surf, the Pride has no photo studio. We were several days into the cruise before the staff photographer started posting photos on a TV monitor in the Yacht Club. She later posted all of the photos on a ship’s computer in the Yacht Club, which was set up for viewing and ordering pictures.
Cabin Review
Ocean View Suite
We booked a Category S Guaranty (lowest fare) cabin about 3 months before the sail date directly with Windstar and ended up with a one category upgrade to S1. All S category cabins are the same; the distinction from one to another is the location of the cabins. Lowest priced cabins are on the lowest deck (Deck 4) forward, with the price and category rating increasing as you get closer to mid-ship or a higher deck. We lucked out and got a great location on Deck 4, as far aft as the cabins go, which is essentially mid-ship. Our cabin was at the end of the hall, adjacent to the elevators and spiral stairway, and right around the corner from the security area leading off the ship.
Suites on Star Pride include a large window with a nice ledge that we use to store odds and ends. Adjacent the window is a sofa and coffee table on one side of the room and two nice chairs with table between on the opposite side of the room. The coffee table is rather close to the sofa and affixed t the floor, but pivots is one direction to allow easy seating on the sofa. Closer to the hall door is the bedroom, essentially two single beds pushed together to create something between a queen and king size bed. There is a floor to ceiling curtain that can be closed to separate the sleeping and living areas of the suite.
There is ample storage, although much to our surprise one of our larger pieces of luggage did not fit under the bed as it has on other ships, and the smaller pieces of luggage were a tight squeeze. We stored the one large piece in the walk-in closet. The bathroom was great with a double-sink vanity and shower-tub combination. My only issue with the suite was the limited space between the foot of the bed and the desk/vanity with chair, which was the only access from one side of the room to the other, making passage impossible when someone was seated at the desk. Also be aware that the only electrical outlets we found were on the wall above one corner of the desk, near the door, and in the bathroom. If you bring electronics that need to be charged, you may also want to bring a short extension cord or other multi-outlet device.