While you were out: a steward turned down the soft sheets in your stateroom, dimmed the lights, and stocked the mini-bar with many tempting beverages. While you were walking on the beach this morning, the chef ventured into town to buy some fresh mangos and sun-ripened tomatoes. Our staff of 90 (Wind Spirit and Wind Star) and 190 (Wind Surf), more than one crew member for every two guests, is on call around the clock, and the result is the level of personal service that’s recognized among cruising’s “Best.” (Listed in the 2004 World’s Best Service Travel + Leisure Readers’ Poll.) Windstar, in fact, was designed to offer an alternative to modern cruising, wrapped up in the soul of a magnificent yacht.

There’s simply an untethered joy in sailing, in traveling at a relaxed pace, with the brilliance of the sun and stars overhead. Long teak decks warm the soles of your bare feet. In the distance lie islands, their lush green shoulders rising from the sea, while just a few feet below a school of playful dolphins surf the ship’s wake. Out here, the sails fill with the trade winds, time slows down and the world seems to expand. It’s as if you can hear the earth breathing. Or is that you?