My husband and I love smaller ships with a little luxury thrown in. We have enjoyed plenty of cruises on larger ships when the children were growing up but discovered the joys of 5-6 star cruises recently. We chose WindSurf as it fitted in with our dates and embarkation was in our home city of Lisbon. From the moment we arrived at the port we realised this was going to be something special. The embarkation process was seamless. The welcome we received was genuine and warm. Whilst the food was excellent, what really made the cruise were the staff. They were exceptional, even having been spoilt in the past with excellent service on other deluxe cruises, they were the best. This is not the cruise for you if you like the big shows and the constant entertainment...I am very happy with something a little more relaxed. After dinner there was a choice of cabaret band in the main lounge who were excellent and got us up dancing. At the other end of the ship were the excellent Renate and Gilberto, a young married couple who entertained us beautifully. He played and she sang and it was lovely! They gave us so much fun and pleasure during the cruise! We cannot thank all the staff enough. Tuti our cabin lady couldn’t do enough for us. Wine waiters Maricel, Eric, Erika, Raphael and Jocelyn were all knowledgeable and recommended some wonderful wines for us. Waiters Tri, Rudi, Latin, Ade, Suno and Hari were wonderful. Forgive me if I have forgotten anyone. The highlight of the cruise was the staff talent show. There was so much genuine talent there...the crew were obviously enjoying themselves immensely and were such a close knit team it was lovely to see. Despite the cruise being full, there was never any queueing or fighting for a table or sunbed. Everything was relaxed and chilled. Perfect!

I cannot wait to book another Windstar cruise.