Have you wondered how Windstar plans its itineraries, chooses the wines for its onboard wine lists and develops shore excursions in ports of call? Welcome to Windstar’s new Winds of Change podcast, just launched in January 2025, which is all about offering insider access to how cruises are developed.
Winds of Change has been a long-planned dream for Janet Bava, its chief commercial officer. “This is something I wanted to do from day one here at Windstar,” she says, just after the pilot episode dropped. “The point is that it should be educational, insightful and occasionally offer surprise and delight moments, which to me is a reflection of Windstar itself: a casual, fun-loving, cruise line for the well-traveled guest.
“It’s a conversation between people who are part of Windstar, from our crew to our guests and hopefully we’ll all be revealing new insights, details, advice, and tips.”
The podcast, she added, “will showcase the people of Windstar, including crew, staff and fellow guests,” she says. “It will tell the story behind our 40-year history. And it will offer a deeper discovery of the places our ships go — from French Polynesia by yacht to the Greek Isles under sail.”
Please bookmark this page and come back, often, to check on what Bava and her colleagues and friends are up to with Windstar. We’ll offer short recaps of each episode (which you can watch via provided links or subscribe to YouTube for updates on new podcasts) and post your comments, reactions, questions and suggestions in the comments below. Bava reads every one.
Episode 3: The Friends We’ve Made Along the Way (and a Magical Mystery Cruise)
What does a relatively new-to-Windstar influencer have in common with a couple who’s racked up 500 nights onboard? They both were onboard for Windstar’s Magical Mystery cruise last year. You may recall this was the traditional Tahiti “Society Islands” voyage that suddenly, because of approaching cyclones, got rerouted for Windstar’s first-ever visit to the Marquesas, one of the world’s most remote archipelagos.
First, Janet chats with Tara Zimmerman, whose @fabulouslyadrift Instagram account chronicles travels on land and at sea. A Mediterranean “locals” cruise on Star Legend last winter was her first taste of a small ship experience and she returned for what she thought was going to be a first timers’ taste of Tahiti. “An adventure is one way to put it,” she tells Janet. “It was the trip of a lifetime in more ways than one.”
Favorite line: Janet sketches in a little detail about how that trip was so unexpectedly unusual. After the ship’s first port of call, an atoll called Fakarava, “the captain approaches us and says ‘there’s a cyclone coming our way and we’re going to have to make some decisions.’ The options? Stay put in Bora Bora for three-to-four windy and rainy days until the storm passes or we can go to another remote destination that’s totally out of the way. 900 miles out of the way, as it turns out. And off we went to the Marquesas.”
Another favorite line: “The theme you are hearing,” Janet tells us, is that “professionals are leading this company. When everything is smooth sailing, all cruises are great. When things get tough, which lines are going to make sure you stillhave fun? And stay safe? We do a really good job of changing and pivoting.”
In conversation with Anne Arnold and Jerry Baker, experienced Windstar travelers who also happened to be on board for the “magical mystery sailing” also discussed the Marquesas trip. On that voyage, the highlight, which the couple had never before experienced, was “not knowing what our next day was going to bring,” Anne says, “and knowing that Windstar was doing such an exceptional job of getting everything planned for us in the Marquesas. It was unbelievable.”
Anne and Jerry were dining at Amphora with Windstar President Chris Prelog one night and the topic turned to how much fun it was to not know exactly what to expect on your itinerary. Chris suggested that Windstar might actually plan a mystery cruise – and so Windstar has created the first-ever 2025 President’s Mystery Cruise. The 8-night voyage, roundtrip from Athens, departs on April 19, 2025 – and aside from that capital city, guests will only learn where they’re going the night before. Anne and Jerry were the first to sign on for it.
Q&A: The couple, who have achieved 500 nights aboard Windstar’s yachts, answers this one: What brings you back? “The crew, the Windstar family. We feel like they are our family.”
Episode 2: Shaping the Past, Present, and Future of Windstar
On this episode of Winds of Change, Janet’s guest is Stijn Creupelandt, Windstar’s chief commercial officer. Stijn started his cruise career as a waiter on then-Seabourn Pride before rising through the onboard hospitality ranks; subsequent positions included receptionist and chief purser. He joined Windstar in 2021 as vice president of hotel operations and was promoted to his chief commercial officer in 2023. In this role, Stijn still oversees hotel-related responsibilities (all guest-facing, such as food and beverage, entertainment, housekeeping, shore excursions and administration). He’s added the nautical and engineering sides, as well, overseeing Windstar’s shipbuilding and refurbishment programs.
On this podcast, Janet and Stijn cover topics such as cultural and culinary immersion, the new Basil + Bamboo restaurant that just debuted on Star Breeze, and why Star Seeker’s Horizon Suite is the suite to book.
Favorite line: “Giving a new life to a 30-year-old ship is the biggest form of sustainability in my eyes.”
Another favorite line: When “our favorite pesto maker comes on board in Italy…it’s an experience that guests remember. It’s not so much about the pesto, it’s about his passion, and connecting with locals and sharing in their culture.”
Q&A: What’s the best itinerary for new-to-Windstar travelers? “I definitely want to recommend Tahiti…the connection with the locals is amazing. if you have New Year’s resolutions,, I would say also, take a wellness cruise, take time, step back. We’re offering five “Mind, Body and Spirit” trips this year. And for 2026, the tulip season in Holland is an amazing itinerary. Three sailings, from mid-April to early May. Starts in Amsterdam and winds up in Belgium, my home country.”
Episode 1, The People Behind Windstar
Janet hosts Dianna Rom, vice president of sales, who, with over 25 years at parent company Xanterra, reminisces about the day that Xanterra Travel Collection acquired Windstar in 2011.
Favorite line: “A lot has changed since then. At that time Xanterra was about managing parks and park systems, and today… it’s about where we can leave an imprint on the world.”
Q&A: What’s the best itinerary for new-to-Windstar travelers? “A really good starter is Italy and the Dalmatian coast,” Rom says, particularly recommending that travelers start in Venice, because its sailaway is so magical. “These days, very few lines sail in and out of Venice [due to new restrictions that require ships longer than 180 meters to dock outside of the city]. Unfurling the sails, you are listening to ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise,’ and well, if you don’t feel like a pirate then, you never will.”
“Not only did I enjoy the Windstar podcast, my 11-year-old grandson put his morning cartoons on hold to listen with me! Then actively questioned which ships we had been on and what areas of the world we have been to.” — @susanwauer7182
Next up is Hotel General Manager Andreas Pitsch, who is calling in from Wind Surf. Pitsch oversees about 80% of a ship’s operation, including culinary, housekeeping, spa, dining and provisioning.
Favorite Line: “The biggest risk is not to take a risk,” he says, reflecting back on his decision to join Windstar. “I called my wife and I said, ‘If I would have known how wonderful atmosphere on a small ship was, I would have changed 20 years earlier.’”
Q&A: What is your favorite itinerary? “I get this question often and I always give the same answer. My favorite itineraries are in the Mediterranean, Spain, Monaco, Italy and Greece.” He loves the weather and the culinary scene, too; in fact, Pitsch loves the region so much he makes his home on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
