Exclusive tour inside luxurious cruise ship Star Legend on Portsmouth visit

The News, Portsmouth

A look inside the Star Legend cruise ship

Transcript

00:00Well I think you know there's so much history and particularly on the naval side as we've

00:21mentioned in Portsmouth that it and what we're really trying to deliver with our itineraries

00:25is getting guests into the heart of a destination.

00:28Here we're coming right into the centre of the town, there's so much close to that dockyard

00:32area as well that I think this is the perfect fit for an itinerary that we're offering especially

00:36for UK guests and American guests alike who won't know as much about these regions and

00:40you know Portsmouth's position operating primarily for the small ship and booty cruise ship market

00:45really fits well with our ethos.

00:47That's brilliant, so with the city itself what made you guys add that to your itineraries

00:52because the itineraries are quite expansive of Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

00:56Yeah well certainly you know for the UK I think there is so much that you know guests

01:01don't know about within the UK with especially and even for UK guests we're pretty bad at

01:05travelling around our own home nation and so being able to take people beyond that immediate

01:10layer whether that's beyond a large cruise ship port that's not really you know going

01:14to deliver a guest experience in the same way it's just about looking for those ports

01:19where we know that when our guests go there they can step right off the ship and find

01:22something that's a little bit different to what they might have expected.

01:25And what's the feedback that you've heard from some of the people on board already?

01:28I mean generally for all of our UK cruises we get fantastic experiences and I know from

01:33speaking to some of the guests who've been on this cruise that they've had a great time

01:36going around the UK and you will have seen many of them going ashore and enjoying Portsmouth

01:39so when I'm back on the ship in London on Sunday I'm sure I'll hear some great things

01:42then as well.

01:43What sets Star Legend and the experiences that you guys offer apart from some of the

01:48other cruise companies there are?

01:51Absolutely, so Windstar's brand identity, our tagline but also our ethos and our identity

01:55is being 180 degrees from ordinary and that's been the case since we were founded almost

02:0040 years ago now.

02:01What we want to deliver is really something that takes what people might expect from the

02:05usual cruise experience and just takes it slightly beyond so whether that is being able

02:10to get into places that people didn't know you could go by sea or that you didn't expect

02:15a cruise ship to be able to get into because we are so small as a small ship line as well

02:20that's really what we're trying to deliver but it's also about that crew experience where

02:23we know that we're going to go above and beyond what people may have ever expected they could

02:27have received and creating that perfect service and our team are so fantastic at delivering

02:32experiences that are 180 degrees from ordinary as well.

02:35So what are some of the things that the guests can experience while on ship but also off

02:40ship wherever the ship does?

02:42Absolutely, so I mean in terms of what we speciality on board you know they're going

02:46to get great fantastic all-inclusive dining so all our specialty restaurants are included

02:51they're also going to get some touches you just can't get on board other ships so whether

02:54that's our open bridge policy being able to visit the bridge at any time with no reservation

02:58required or in warmer destinations we have a water sports platform that folds down at

03:03the back and they can jump straight into the sea from the back of the ship.

03:06What we're really trying to deliver is a private yacht style experience but with that cruise

03:11infrastructure we have as well rather than having to hire your own yacht so it's really

03:15the best of both worlds.

03:16And finally you said earlier that the company's got a lot of big plans with two new ships

03:21on the offering soon and potentially expanded itineraries depending on how things go.

03:25Can you tell us a little bit more about that and do you think Corsa will be on the company's

03:30mind when they try and set things up?

03:31Well you know absolutely our first ship the Starseeker when she comes out is going to

03:35deploy to Alaska and Japan so a little far away but really exciting for us but you know

03:40our company ownership initially with the Zanterra group who do all the lodges within the US

03:45and then above that with the Anschutz group there's a lot of commitment to the UK market

03:50and I know that's something that as we launch our European programme in the next couple

03:53of months we're certainly going to have some exciting things to talk about.

03:57The UK is such a huge growing cruise market and there are so many great ports here that

04:01I'm certain you know if we do well and we really deliver from that UK market then there's

04:06going to be more chances for us to get UK ports like Portsmouth and others back onto

04:10the itinerary list as well.

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