Experience the real Panama and Costa Rica
Cruise ship passengers go whale-watching, do yoga in the jungle and party on a remote island
The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel. Even now, just months before the opening of the canal’s new, expanded locks, the best way to experience this feat of ingenuity and human triumph is to sail through it on a cruise ship.
Most cruise ships transit the canal during the heat of the day, and then immediately set sail for more distant locales. Seattle-based Windstar Cruises had a different idea. It deploys the classy, 212-guest Star Breeze on a series of weeklong voyages that focus exclusively on Panama and nearby Costa Rica, sailing between Colon, Panama, and San Jose (Puerto Caldera), Costa Rica. And instead of transiting the Canal during the heat of the day, Star Breeze sails through during the cooler evening hours.
You might remember Star Breeze better for her previous incarnation as Seabourn’s Seabourn Spirit. Entering service in 1989, Windstar acquired her and her two sister ships and rolled them into the fleet starting in 2014.
I’ve long admired Windstar’s Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Surf — all small, intimate ships that feature computer-controlled sails that tower above their decks.
Star Breeze and her sisters, Star Legend and Star Pride, have no sails, but they do have many features that make them every bit as desirable.
Stepping aboard Star Breeze in Puerto Caldera, I was struck by just how much Windstar had changed. Suites feature new soft furnishings, headboards, lighting and furniture.
Public rooms have been completely redone. My favourite space, the Yacht Club on Deck 8, overlooks the ship’s bow from a commanding position and feels like a cosy living room. The lounge serves light bites, coffee, tea and other drinks throughout the day.
The rest of the vessel sparkles similarly and Windstar’s dedicated, friendly crew sees to it that you’re not going to want for anything.
Windstar has widened the outer portions of Deck 8 to increase seating capacity. Total cost for the refit: US$17 million.
On these Costa Rica and Panama sailings you can go whale-watching, do yoga in the jungle, and zip around on the ship’s zodiac rafts to go ashore in remote places.
One highlight of this voyage is Windstar’s Private Event on the remote Isla de Coiba. Here, the crew prepared a barbecue lunch on the beach, complete with drinks and activities that included snorkelling, swimming and beach volleyball. Of course, if you want to stay closer to the ship, the Star Breeze’s retractable platform makes it easy to go for a quick ride in a kayak.
The majority of the ports of call are remote and wholly unique. If you want to see the real Panama and Costa Rica, from the comfort of a luxurious ship, this is the trip to take. Few lines are doing anything like it.
Star Breeze will spend her spring and summer in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, where she’ll operate cruises from Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome and Venice.
In late November, she sails across the Atlantic for two short Caribbean voyages before resuming her Costa Rica and Panama Canal sailings on Dec. 9, 2016.
Star Breeze remains in Costa Rica until April 2017.