World’s Best Awards honor the finest travel destinations and companies around the globe, as rated by Travel + Leisure’s discerning audience.
Seattle, WA, July 10, 2018 — Windstar Cruises has been ranked #1 in the Midsize-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines category of the 2018 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, honoring the top travel destinations and companies around the globe as rated by its readers. The World’s Best Awards appear in the August 2018 issue of Travel + Leisure, on sale July 27, and online at this link: https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best.
“We are thrilled to be recognized by Travel + Leisure readers, and welcome the chance to celebrate our talented staff as the true creators of the Windstar experience,” said Windstar President John Delaney. “Our officers and crew are the best in the industry – delivering a vacation unlike any other with personalized and immersive experiences that allow our guests to discover and be inspired by people, places and cultures around the world. A sincere thank you to T+L and their fans for honoring our dedicated team with this prestigious award.”
Every year for the magazine’s World’s Best Awards survey, the publication asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines and more. Readers rated individual cruise ships on their cabins and facilities, food, service, itineraries and destinations, excursions and value. Those assessments were combined to generate results for the cruise lines in five categories; Midsize-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines have vessels that can carry 250 to 599 passengers.
Windstar’s 310-guest flagship Wind Surf draws admiring glances as she glides majestically into port with her tall sails billowing. The ship, one of the largest commercial sailing vessels in the world, wows guests with some of the most beautiful public spaces at sea and a classic and timeless design, but it’s Windstar’s “180 Degrees from Ordinary” approach to cruising that helped earn the line the top spot.
In addition to the midsize-ship ocean cruise line distinction, Windstar was also ranked in the Top 10 Small-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines category. small-ship ocean cruise lines have vessels that can carry up to 249 passengers. Five of Windstar’s ships carry fewer than 249 passengers, with Wind Star and Wind Spirit at 148 passengers each, as well as Star Pride, Star Breeze and Star Legend all with 212 passengers each.
About Windstar Cruises
Windstar Cruises operates a six-ship fleet of small sailing and all-suite ships sailing throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, Asia, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada and New England, and cruising year-round in Tahiti. Windstar’s fleet is the market leader in small ship cruising with a total of 1,242 passenger berths calling on off-the-beaten-path and popular ports in nearly 80 countries. The boutique cruise line carries 148 to 310 passengers on six small ships and takes travelers on cruises that are 180 degrees from ordinary. Windstar is known for immersive experiences and destination authenticity, port-intensive itineraries, exceptional award-winning service, and an innovative culinary program with culinary-themed cruise as the Official Cruise Line of the James Beard Foundation. Windstar Cruises is a part of Xanterra Travel Collection, an award-winning, globally diversified travel company offering once in a lifetime experiences in some of the most beautiful and iconic places on earth.
About Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure is the preeminent voice for the sophisticated traveler, serving up expert intelligence and the most immersive, inspiring travel lifestyle content anywhere. Travel + Leisure captures the joy of discovering the pleasures the world has to offer—from art and design to shopping and style to food and drink—and offers compelling reasons to get up and go. With a total global audience of more than 15 million, the Travel + Leisure portfolio includes the U.S. flagship and four international editions in China, India, Mexico, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. edition of T+L, which launched in 1971, is the only monthly consumer travel magazine in print in the U.S., has an authoritative website, TravelandLeisure.com, and an extensive social media following of more than 13 million. Travel + Leisure also encompasses newsletters and media collaborations.