Windstar Panama Canal & Central America Cruise Reviews

We were tired of staying home and have always loved Windstar. Although we were somewhat put off by the COVID restrictions imposed by CDC and other governmental authorities, foreign and domestic, on the cruise lines, we decided to give it a try. It was probably the best cruise we have ever taken (and that is a lot of cruises). We boarded after a mandatory COVID test and stayed in our cabin until ...

The staff were very attentive and accommodating. Most took the time to learn your name. We had a State Room which was spacious and comfortable. A definite plus on a smaller ship which doesn't have a lot of public areas. Ship was very clean and you noticed the effort to keep it that way.The excursions were interesting and efficient. There was a problem with the air conditioning. State ...

This was our second Windstar cruise, a back-to-back Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, followed by a Southern Caribbean Sweep itinerary from Colon, Panama to Cartegena, Colombia; Aruba, and Bequia in the Grenadines, with disembarkation in Barbados. We enjoyed our first Windstar cruise through the ABC Island and the Grenadines on the Star Pride so much that we wanted to sail through the Canal with ...

Chose this because we wanted a 7-day canal transit on a small ship. First time on Windstar. Overall very good -- excellent service, food was quite satisfactory, ship was in good but not outstanding condition. The cabin space was excellent -- was skeptical of the french balcony, but liked it a great deal. Since you have a whole suite, no need for a separate balcony, and opening the sliders ...

We were looking to go through the Panama Canal on a small ship and not have to visit various Caribbean islands that we have already seen. We had not visited Costa Rica or Panama so the itinerary on this ship fit our requirement. Embarkation was terrible and almost had us worrying what we got ourselves into. We took an independent tour from a hotel we booked on our own, which was cheaper than their ...

We chose this cruise for the itinerary as a Panama Canal transit was a bucket list item; the itinerary was excellent, food was great, and service generally good! Our difficulties were with booking the cruise, paying for it, and then getting the final bill correct. While service was generally good we found it spotty, with a very odd experience of past cruisers (Yacht Club members) being invited ...

Love small ship sailing and this was no exception!! The cabins are beyond amazing!! Every room is a suite!! Fabulous!! Great staff, fantastic food and amazing wildlife!! Chocolate Farm was fun and educational!! Terrabo Sierpe Mangroves River Tour was beyond our expectations!! Manuel San Antonio was very crowded and the tour company needs to work on organizing it better but it was a nice ...

We choice this cruise to go through the Panama Canal and see Costa Rica. Going through the canal was great. The so called "ports" we visited consisted of tendering a zodiac from the ship to a public beach areas. One stop for a ship cookout, 2 ports with absolutely nothing in the so called "town" and one at a public marina. If you wanted to do anything at these stops it required an excursion ...

This is my second review of the "Star Pride" --- my first was the maiden voyage in 2014, immediately after the ship was acquired from Seabourn. I noticed several changes, almost all of which were positive. This 7-night cruise sailed on February 25, 2017 from Colon, with stops in several small ports in Costa Rica. Some recent passengers have complained that the ports are relatively unknown, but ...

This was our first time on a cruise. We had never really considered taking one before but in looking for our "winter" break we thought that a trip through the Canal and up along the Costa Rican coast sounded like a fun adventure. We didn't have particularly high expectations (nor particularly low) but were somewhat ambivalent but figured - you have to try everything once. Well we were really ...