Legend vs. Wind Surf

Hi, very new cruiser here. Did first ever cruise on the Norwegian Jade last year and didn't love the big ship feel. So am thinking about booking a Windstar cruise from Dublin to Edinburgh. There are two options, about two nights apart. The first is on the Legend and the second is on the Wind Surf. Has anyone been on either or on both? If so, can you say what you liked/didn't like about them?

Hubby and I are in our mid-50s, very casual lifestyle and demeanor. Not really into the whole getting dressed up to go to dinner kind of vibe. Any opinion you can give will be helpful.

Thanks

Sharon

Well, since the Star Legend hasn't yet begun service with Windstar, it may be hard to make direct comments about the ship in its "Windstar mode". But a couple of considerations may come into play.

The Legend is a former Seabourn ship, transitioning to its new operator. There have been public statements from Windstar about the changes they are making - these can be found on the Windstar website. Among these is the removal of the swimming pool - if that's critical to you, take the Surf.

Another consideration is that the stateroom sizes are very different. Standard rooms on the Surf are 188 square feet, while the Legend rooms start at 277 square feet - a close to 50% increase in size.

The Surf has the sailing ship feel from both the masts/sails and the overall design of the ship. The Legend feels more like a large power yacht.

You might want to read reviews of the Legend as it was with Seabourn for more info on the physical layout.

The soft product between the two ships should be similar - much comes down to the vessel itself.

Finally, there is a significant price premium for the Legend for the same itinerary. Does the larger stateroom and ship layout justify the price differential?

Hope those are some helpful thoughts.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. These are really helpful. Since the size of the cabin room is really important to us, it looks as if the Legend makes the most sense. I will certainly check out those other forums and topics also. I appreciate your help.

If the size of the room is important to you, you might want to consider a suite on the Surf.

thanks for the suggestion. It looks as if the price for two for 277 square feet on the Legend is $10,799 and the price for 376 square feet on the Wind Surf is $10,599. So the Surf seems to actually be the better deal. I wouldn't have thought to compare the square footage since I am such a cruising newbie. :)

thanks for the suggestion. It looks as if the price for two for 277 square feet on the Legend is $10,799 and the price for 376 square feet on the Wind Surf is $10,599. So the Surf seems to actually be the better deal. I wouldn't have thought to compare the square footage since I am such a cruising newbie. :)

You should double check that price on Star Legend. You can get 277 square feet for a lot less than that. It looks like you are quoting the price of the most expensive 277 square foot suite, which also has a french balcony.

I assume you are talking about Star Legend June 26, 2015 and WindSurf June 29, 2015

The "French balcony" is basically a way to open a window to the outside and look out. There's no room to actually step outside, let alone sit or lounge. Be very aware of this...many have been burned thinking it was more than that.

It was a retrofit way for Seabourn to try to offer a "balcony" product for the triplets when their competition had full balconies available.

Look at more apples to apples and you'll get a better picture, since you don't have balconies in suites on the Surf.

Thanks for all of this information. I looked again after your posts and see that the "balcony" on the Legend is indeed not really a balcony. The only other time that I cruised, I was in a suite on the Norwegian Jade and we had a balcony that was large enough for two of us to sit out. So it really doesn't make a ton of sense to spend that much money when you can get the same amount of space for less money.

Does anyone know why one would pay more for the same amount of square footage? Are there other perks?

When you see two identical staterooms that are priced differently, the more expensive room is usually in a more desirable area of the ship. At least the cruise line deems these areas as being more desirable. Different people will have different points of view on what they consider to be more desirable.

Love the commentary on this one. DW and I will be facing the same decision when we do the 30th anniversary celebration next fall. I LOVE the look of the Wind Surf, and the room sizes are so much larger for the motorized yachts. Based on deals I've seen, the two may be fairly close in price.

I ended up going with the Legend. I paid less for a Ocean view cabin with 277 sq feet and the same size cabin on the Wind Surf was a bit more than half that size.

Cruise leaves in just about 2 months, 2 weeks, so I am now in the count down phase!

Can't wait.

Cool. You should have a great time

I have been on both ships and loved both.

The Legend rooms were lovely, and that was before the re-fit, so I'm assuming they will be awesome.

I only used the pool once on Legend, (I must look into how they are re designing it,) so no biggy there, if no pool anymore.

Hopefully there will still be a hot tub , forward on deck 5, was lovely and quiet, and we used it a lot.

We had the small balcony, just enough room to stand outside, I did enjoy it, but it was an expensive option for what is was.

I don't think you could have gone wrong with either ship, you'll love it.

L

I have been on both ships and loved both.

The Legend rooms were lovely, and that was before the re-fit, so I'm assuming they will be awesome.

 

I only used the pool once on Legend, (I must look into how they are re designing it,) so no biggy there, if no pool anymore.

Hopefully there will still be a hot tub , forward on deck 5, was lovely and quiet, and we used it a lot.

We had the small balcony, just enough room to stand outside, I did enjoy it, but it was an expensive option for what is was.

 

I don't think you could have gone wrong with either ship, you'll love it.

L

The forward hot tub will still be there.

The existing pool is being taken out and the space used to expand the veranda (something badly needed). On the pool deck one of the twin hot tubs is being removed and replaced by a current pool.

The "French balcony" is basically a way to open a window to the outside and look out. There's no room to actually step outside, let alone sit or lounge. Be very aware of this...many have been burned thinking it was more than that.

 

It was a retrofit way for Seabourn to try to offer a "balcony" product for the triplets when their competition had full balconies available.

 

Look at more apples to apples and you'll get a better picture, since you don't have balconies in suites on the Surf.

We were on the inaugural voyage of the Star Legend last month. We had a French balcony room. I disagree with FlyerTalker: you CAN stand on the French balcony outside of the window tracks. The "balcony" is about a foot deep, so you can truly stand on it and be outside. But that's it. However, both glass doors slide apart, leaving a clear ~6 foot opening (vs. one 3' sliding door on most full balconies). Sort of like an "infinity pool" feeling for your room. I liked it, and for a warm weather cruise, I felt it was worth the increased cost. I'd book one again.

We were on the Wind Surf several years ago for a Caribbean cruise. We missed not having a balcony. Two portholes just didn't do it for us! But the sails were nice -- just wished they had used them more. Only once were they fully up and the engine cut.