Have you ever puzzled how Windstar plans its itineraries, chooses the wines for its onboard wine lists and develops shore excursions in ports of name? Welcome to Windstar’s new Winds of Change podcast, simply launched in January 2025, which is all about providing insider entry to how cruises are developed.
Winds of Change has been a long-planned dream for Janet Bava, its chief industrial officer. “That is one thing I wished to do from day one right here at Windstar,” she says, simply after the pilot episode dropped. “The purpose is that it needs to be instructional, insightful and sometimes provide shock and delight moments, which to me is a mirrored image of Windstar itself: an informal, fun-loving, cruise line for the well-traveled visitor.
“It’s a dialog between people who find themselves a part of Windstar, from our crew to our visitors and hopefully we’ll all be revealing new insights, particulars, recommendation, and ideas.”
The podcast, she added, “will showcase the individuals of Windstar, together with crew, workers and fellow visitors,” she says. “It’ll inform the story behind our 40-year historical past. And it’ll provide a deeper discovery of the locations our ships go — from French Polynesia by yacht to the Greek Isles below sail.”
Please bookmark this web page and are available again, usually, to examine on what Bava and her colleagues and associates are as much as with Windstar. We’ll provide brief recaps of every episode (which you’ll be able to watch by way of offered hyperlinks or subscribe to YouTube for updates on new podcasts) and publish your feedback, reactions, questions and recommendations within the feedback beneath. Bava reads each one.
Episode 1, The Individuals Behind Windstar
Bava hosts Dianna Rom, vp of gross sales, who, with over 25 years at mum or dad firm Xanterra, reminisces in regards to the day that Xanterra Journey Assortment acquired Windstar in 2011.
Favourite line: “Quite a bit has modified since then. At the moment Xanterra was about managing parks and park programs, and right this moment… it’s about the place we will depart an imprint on the world.”
Q&A: What’s the very best itinerary for new-to-Windstar vacationers? “A very good starter is Italy and the Dalmatian coast,” Rom says, significantly recommending that vacationers begin in Venice, as a result of its sailaway is so magical. “Lately, only a few strains sail out and in of Venice [due to new restrictions that require ships longer than 180 meters to dock outside of the city]. Unfurling the sails, you’re listening to ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise,’ and properly, when you don’t really feel like a pirate then, you by no means will.”
“Not solely did I benefit from the Windstar podcast, my 11-year-old grandson put his morning cartoons on maintain to pay attention with me! Then actively questioned which ships we had been on and what areas of the world we have now been to.” — @susanwauer7182
Subsequent up is Lodge Basic Supervisor Andreas Pitsch, who is looking in from Wind Surf. Pitsch oversees about 80% of a ship’s operation, together with culinary, housekeeping, spa, eating and provisioning.
Favourite Line: “The most important danger is to not take a danger,” he says, reflecting again on his resolution to hitch Windstar. “I known as my spouse and I mentioned, ‘If I’d have recognized how fantastic ambiance on a small ship was, I’d have modified 20 years earlier.’”
Q&A: What’s your favourite itinerary? “I get this query usually and I at all times give the identical reply. My favourite itineraries are within the Mediterranean, Spain, Monaco, Italy and Greece.” He loves the climate and the culinary scene, too; in reality, Pitsch loves the area a lot he makes his house on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
