{"id":1902,"date":"2026-09-23T21:33:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T21:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/kabarsula-windstars-helen-beck-on-new-to-fleet-and-refurbs-getting-the-line-to-eight-ships-bandar-slot-indonesia\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T21:33:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T21:33:39","slug":"kabarsula-windstars-helen-beck-on-new-to-fleet-and-refurbs-getting-the-line-to-eight-ships-bandar-slot-indonesia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/kabarsula-windstars-helen-beck-on-new-to-fleet-and-refurbs-getting-the-line-to-eight-ships-bandar-slot-indonesia\/","title":{"rendered":"kabarsula Windstar’s Helen Beck on new to fleet and refurbs getting the line to eight ships bandar SLOT INDONESIA"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There is nothing \u201csmall\u201d about small-ship line Windstar Cruises entering its busiest period of fleet renewal in decades, says managing director of global commercial Helen Beck.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a new-build yacht already sailing, a converted sister ship due to join before Christmas, and a multi-million-dollar refurbishment of its original Wind Class trio nearing completion, the former Royal Caribbean Line executive is merely scratching the surface of the changes afoot, just 18 months into her new role.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Travel Weekly Australia after her appearance at Cruise360 Australasia, Beck said 224-passenger all-suite yacht Star Seeker<\/em> had joined the fleet in December \u2013 the brand\u2019s first new-build in almost 40 years and the first of two sister ships that will take Windstar to eight yachts in total.<\/p>\n

\u201cA brand-new build, the first new build for us in \u2013 is it nearly 40 years? \u2013 for a very long time,\u201d Beck said, of the yacht built in Portugal.<\/p>\n

Sister ship Star Explorer <\/em>is taking a different route into the fleet. Rather than a new-build, she is a five-year-old former Quark Expeditions ship, the 2019 build World Explorer<\/em>, being converted to the same standard as Star Seeker<\/em> ahead of a December shakedown sailing from Lisbon to M\u00e1laga and an official christening in June 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive, six years \u2013 nowadays that\u2019s, you know, newborn almost, very, very young (for a ship),\u201d Beck said. Once Star Explorer<\/em> enters service, that will make eight ships, Beck said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have three sailing yachts and five motor yachts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Star\"Star
A render of all-suite yacht Star Seeker\u2019s new Basil & Bamboo restaurant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Setting Sails refurb wraps next year<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The new tonnage is running alongside a separate refurbishment of Windstar\u2019s older Wind Class ships, under a program the line calls Setting Sails.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a multi-million-dollar investment into upgrading the ships \u2013 all of the public areas, all of the rooms, all of the kit and caboodle that goes on at dry dock,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

Two ships remain on the program. Wind Surf<\/em> is due to complete its final phase \u2013 updated staterooms \u2013 in November, while Wind Spirit<\/em> closes out Setting Sails in dry dock in February, bringing the multi-year program to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got two into next year,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWind Surf<\/em> has got her last phase, the rooms being updated, coming up in November \u2026 then Wind Spirit<\/em>, that\u2019s the last of the Setting Sail program. She\u2019s in dry dock in February.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck said she was impressed by the fleet\u2019s when she first sailed with the line last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pleasantly surprised when I went on board my first ship, Star Legend<\/em>, in June of last year, at how beautifully maintained and looked after it was, particularly on the Star Class. The suites, absolutely beautiful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Star\"Star
A Star Seeker Veranda suite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What does \u201csmall ship\u201d mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The investment in fleet is feeding directly into how Windstar wants to be understood in market, particularly one as valuable as Australian and New Zealand to a lesser extent. Beck described the brand\u2019s positioning simply as \u201ccasual luxury\u201d, built around choice rather than formality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s choice. We offer choice,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re small ships, but we offer different dining experiences \u2013 three or even four different restaurants on each ship. We have 24-hour room service, we do deck barbecues, we open up the back of the ship as the marina.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much as she did on her Cruise60 panel, Beck also push back on the \u201csmall ship\u201d label, arguing it fails to distinguish between vessels ranging from 30 to 1,000 berths, equating a 1,000-berth ship to roughly 500 hotel rooms at double occupancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would never say a 500-bedroomed hotel was small, ever,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n

Beyond the ships themselves, Windstar has also been expanding its Destination Discovery program \u2013 private, after-hours shore experiences in ports the line already visits, including an out-of-hours Tower of London visit, an evening at Ephesus, a circumnavigation-linked event in Iceland and a newly announced addition in Livorno. Travel Weekly<\/em> will look at that program in more detail in a future article.<\/p>\n

\"Star\"Star
Star Seeker Yacht Club.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why Australia punches above its weight<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Beck said Australia and New Zealand remained a priority market despite representing a small slice of Windstar\u2019s global revenue, pointing to per-capita cruising rates, a preference for back-to-back sailings, fly-cruise habits and longer stays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still, financially, a small part of the market, but we\u2019re a key part of the market because you punch above your weight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tahiti is doing much of the work getting Windstar onto Australian advisors\u2019 radar, Beck said, with roughly half of Australian bookings already tied to the destination ahead of a second yacht being based there from March next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gives us that puts us on the radar of the majority of the Australian and New Zealand travel community, because we\u2019re close to home in that sense,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a tick.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, Beck said the pitch to advisors becomes about breadth rather than size.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve only got eight ships, but look where we sail: two in Tahiti \u2026 then between those six, we\u2019re in Alaska, we\u2019re in Costa Rica, we come down the New England coast, we\u2019re in Northern Europe, we\u2019re in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, the Greek Islands, we\u2019re in Asia, we\u2019re in Japan,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019ve got the world covered, because we haven\u2019t, but you can kind of find us in most places that your clients are looking to travel to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Windstar\"Windstar
Refurbished staterooms \u2013 the final phase of the Wind Surf update \u2013 will be complete by November.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Booking behaviour is another point of difference Beck flags for advisors, with Australia\u2019s booking window running on a different cycle to the UK and US, and local clients often paying a premium over other source markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got the Australians who book a slightly different way, but they\u2019ll pay a bit more,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to make sure we\u2019ve got occupancy, we\u2019ve got inventory available for them to book into when they come into their booking window.\u201d<\/p>\n

That behaviour is part of why Windstar created Beck\u2019s global role in the first place, using a spread of source markets to manage risk when demand shifts unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new position that was created in the company to give focus on international markets, to de-risk, so that you\u2019ve got other markets you can go to that book differently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On the ground, Beck said trade relationships still come down to personal contact \u2013 advisors wanting to see the people behind the brand, not just the ships.<\/p>\n

\"Helen\"Helen
Windstar\u2019s Helen Beck has attended Cruise360 Australasia for the second time where she appeared on a panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From growth to yield<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With the fleet soon to reach its full complement, Beck said the commercial focus is shifting from expansion to yield \u2013 working out how pricing, booking windows and source markets interact once new-ship growth slows.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we\u2019re on sale with our eight ships, for us now, it\u2019s maximising yield,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to get a bit more sophisticated in looking at our data \u2013 who\u2019s paying what, when, and which markets. Are we leaving some money on the table?\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia is central to that equation. About 50 per cent of Australian bookings already relate to Tahiti and the South Pacific, a region set to gain a second Windstar yacht once Star Explorer<\/em> is in service \u2013 itself part of the broader case Beck is making for reclassifying what a \u201csmall ship\u201d line can offer.<\/p>\n

\"Windstar\"Windstar
Renders of Windstar Cruises\u2019 Star Explorer and new-build Star Seeker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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