‘This is luxury, baby’
Expect extravagance and top service aboard this new, small cruise ship
NICE, FRANCE— As we walk up to La Reine des Fraises, a fruit merchant, chef Michael Sabourin belts out, “Taste this!”
We all oblige. He does the same with the olives, and then the olive oils. He points to an impressive selection of my favourite ingredient.
“Taste as much cheese as you possibly can in France,” he says.
Who am I to disagree? An older woman is purchasing some, just as she does at this particular stall each week.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” I tell the merchant, not knowing my taste buds would soon delight in pungent, gooey Brie.
We’re here in Nice, France, to shop with the chef before boarding Star Breeze for its inaugural voyage. What chef picks up here will find its way into our meals in the coming days.
This is just one of the many excursions guests can enjoy while navigating through France, Monaco and Italy.
I’m relatively new to cruising and have always been wary. I soon find out my visions of a floating Disneyland are dead wrong.
Star Breeze is the second all-suite power yacht in Windstar Cruises’ newest fleet of three. In just 21 days (and $8.5 million later), the 212-passenger yacht was transformed from stem to stern.
Staterooms are enormous, most are 277 square feet (26 square metres) and complete with walk-in closets, marble bathrooms and spacious seating areas.
The top deck is now four feet wider on each side, providing guests with more lounging space. Entertainment rooms have been redesigned with contemporary furnishings and rich flooring. A grand piano accompanies the dark wooden plantation shutters in the yacht’s club space, providing a sophisticated yet tranquil feel. Guests looking for a relaxing movie night can take refuge in the comfortable screening room.
With new wall coverings, art work and seating layout, the ship’s main dining room, AmphorA, invites an elegant experience. Meals prepared in its well-organized kitchen aren’t to be missed.
The perfectly peppered prawns served one evening will go down in my history books. So, too, will the on-deck barbecue where we enjoyed a succulent pig roast, fresh lobster, king crab and Spanish paella. An array of French pastries and cheeses capped the evening.
This is luxury, baby, the ultimate way to get a taste of the equally luxurious Mediterranean. And yet, it wasn’t these extravagances that made the voyage so special, though they did help. Along with 140 staff members, there’s a maximum of 352 people on board. That’s tiny, and done on purpose.
Guests receive a certain level of personal service on a small ship; there’s an intimacy you’d be hard pressed to sense on a ship larger than this. Staff members greet you by your first name. You’ll get to know theirs too.
You’ll certainly meet your neighbour and make lasting friends. Take Katie and Brian Kearins for example, a lovely couple from St. Louis whom my partner and I shared stories with over wine (OK, maybe it was scotch). We still keep in touch to this day. We haven’t kept up with the U.S. federal judge, but we will fondly remember his wit and hardnose demeanour.
It seems I’ve been converted to a (small ship) cruiser. Follow Kristin Kent on Twitter and Instagram @kent_kristin. Kristin’s visit was subsidized by Windstar Cruises.