Buenos días! I’m back from Europe after sailing on Windstar’s newest ship… . I was invited on the inaugural cruise along with several other journalists, travel agents, executives and paid guests. Windstar paid fro my flight to Europe but I paid for my dad’s (I used way too many Delta miles).
Like smart cruise travelers we arrived into the first port (Barcelona, Spain) a day before just in case there were any significant weather or mechanical delays. Fortunately, there were not.
Windstar put us up at the which was the perfect hotel since we were only in town for a night and it was literally a stone’s throw from our ship. Unfortunately, my dad was really tired from the long trip so we didn’t do much. He slept, I worked (the life of a travel writer) and then we took a stroll down the famous and super toursity La Rambla boulevard. It was just a short walk from the Grand Marina Hotel. Below are some of my photos from our short stay in Spain.
FYI: My big regrets were not taking my dad to see (Tip: purchase the tickets online in advance from and you won’t stand in line at all) and seeing my American friend Tracy who runs . But that just means we need to go back, right?!
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- 20 minute drive from airport to downtown Barcelona, Spain
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- Barcelona, Spain
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- Grand Marina Hotel
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- Grand Marina Hotel front desk (they have very nice workers)
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- Grand Marina Hotel room
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- Grand Marina Hotel bed
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- Grand Marina Hotel bathroom
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- Grand Marina Hotel bag with toiletries
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- Grand Marina Hotel toiletries
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- View of our ship from hotel room
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- Grand Marina Hotel and Windstar Star Pride
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- W Hotel
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- View of Barcelona from room (with a zoom)
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- Barcelona’s Port Cable Car
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- View of Barcelona from ship
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- View of Barcelona from ship
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- Christopher Columbus Monument (197 feet tall) at the lower end of La Rambla
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I enjoyed your review of the Star Pride’s inaugural trip. I have been on five Windstar cruises. 4 on the largest Wind Surf, and 1 on the smaller Wind Spirit. For me the biggest drawback of the smaller vessel was lack of deck space to sit and read. There were several lounge poachers who would put a book on lounge/deck chair to claim it for the day. Often these chairs went unused for hours. We didn’t have that problem on the Wind Surf. It’s nice when there is a full day at sea to have a place outside to view the scenery, or just read. Is there much deck space on the Star Pride? Did you get a sense that there were enough deck chair/lounges for everyone who wanted one? We are reluctant to book a trip on the Star Pride because it looks like all of the space goes into the cabins, and none of it on deck. Thoughts? Thanks.
Desk space wasn’t a problem and I don’t think it would be for you either.