Windstar cruise is a very nice ship with excellent staff,but not 5 star. We have traveled on Silversea, Reagent, and Tauck river cruises which do a better job pampering you and earn a 5 star. Windstar says they recently renovated but the carpets in the cabins has not been changed. The ships cruise director is not very informed nor does the font desk have much information on the ports .We never had internet connection which has been a chronic problem for this cruise line. The TV selection is bare minimum with no US news station.Also the ship wants to charge for everything even a wine tasting event which I thought they could use to promote some of their on board wines.
One small problem especially for elderly guest is a lot of the doorways have a ledge and often you kick it with your foot or trip. It takes a little while to get use to the ledge.Though it sounds like a lot of negatives my family age 14, 16 18 and 20 all had a great time and I would recommend the cruise to my friends and would travel with them again if I found an enticing destination.
The food was very good and seemed to get better as the week went on. We ate in all of the restaurants but felt the main dining room was excellent and enjoyed having the same waiter every night. The crew really does a great job. The wines are reasonable priced and a good selection of moderately priced wines. We did not pay for the drink packaged and came out ok. Just remember to budget a 12% fee for tip and 15% fee for drinks. Water and soda included.