If you had a chance to take a cruise without knowing exactly where you were heading, would you?
Chris Prelog, president of Windstar Cruises, is betting that at least some of us are up for the challenge. In an entirely new twist for Windstar’s annual President’s Cruise, an eight day voyage departing on April 19, 2025 aboard Star Legend, will sail roundtrip from Athens. Which ports it will visit beyond that is, at least at this point, anyone’s guess.
This trip, Prelog tells us, is about “awakening the sense of adventure again, which is what travel should always do,” said Prelog. “It’s a cruise for guests who like adventure, and who don’t want to plan everything out.”
The idea was inspired by Windstar’s recent Tahiti & the Tuamotu Islands sailing onboard Star Breeze. Just two days into this 11-day itinerary, Tropical Cyclone Nat disrupted plans to travel on the ship’s set course and it headed to the wildly remote Marquesas Islands instead. This required the onboard team not just to craft a completely new itinerary in order to avoid the storm system but also to work with every passenger-facing department to throw out the existing playbook – and create a new one (read our story here).
Staffers in shore excursions had to plan new tours – with minimal notice. Crew in the food and beverage department had to negotiate for supplies in ports Star Breeze had never been to. The captain had to toss out his navigational maps and create new ones. And the entertainment team needed to create new activities.
And guests with a keen sense of adventure loved the experience, which is how Windstar’s “Mystery Cruise” concept was born.
“I’m looking forward to the anticipation of finding out where we’re going along with our guests on board,” Prelog says.
