My husband & I took a back-to-back Windstar cruise sailing from Lisbon to Barcelona & Barcelona to Rome. We loved the 200 passenger ship for its intimacy, its room to breathe without being surrounded by 1000s all the time & its list of passengers from all over the world. Our cabin was wonderful - roomy with a curtain separating the large screen TV/reading lounge from the sleeping area, a walk-in closet, a sparkling well equipped bathroom, a bar console, ample storage/writing space & a wall window (not that we spent much time gazing out of it).

Embarkation had minor delays, luggage delivery & disembarkation very smooth.

The food - in the Veranda breakfast/lunch deck & the main Dining Room - was excellent & sophisticated & the service was impeccable. Ditto for the cabin stewards who went out of their way to accommodate requests & wishes (often unexpressed !!). Seating was open at dinner & we had a lot of interesting dinners by asking to be seated with other guests & offering to share our table with them, too. Although the setting was fairly formal, the atmosphere was not, due to the senses of humor of the 2 maitre d's who were lively & solicitous at the same time. Read more