Windstar Star Legend Cruise To Southern Spain. Discover The Beauty Of Small Ship Cruising.

Michael Edwards sails on the Windstar Star Legend and discovers the joys of small-ship cruising

If “Cheers” was the bar where everyone knows your name, then the Windstar Star Legend is the luxurious maritime equivalent.

“English breakfast tea with regular milk, Michael? How’s the cough today?” Asks Paka at Yacht Club. And I’ve only been onboard for two days.

At a maximum of a mere 312 passengers, Star Legend is a small ship serving up big experiences. A Windstar cruise, intimate and personal, is very different to life onboard one of the Moby Dick leviathan ships sailing the Seven Seas.

We find the all-suite Star Legend almost parked, rather than moored, among Malaga’s palms. She is in pole position for exploring the city and then sailing on to Gibraltar, Cartagena, Valencia, Palma and finally Barcelona. An odyssey from Picasso to Gaudi, from siesta to fiesta, through Phoenician, Carthusian, Roman and Moorish relics of history.

Star Legend’s voyage from Malaga to Barcelona isn’t just an exploration of the spirit of Southern Spain. It can also be a journey of personal exploration, of wellness, both physical and spiritual. An opportunity to transform body and mind.

The World Spa offers presentations on wellness on as well as an extensive programme of treatments. Seven staff provide a wide range array of treatments – acupuncture, age-defying facials, classic massage, private yoga, private Pilates. Plus hair and nail care. There really isn’t any excuse for not looking and feeling a decade younger when you disembark.

For this voyage, Vishen Lakhiani, founder and CEO of Mindvalley and author of best-selling books such as The Buddha and the Badass gives two presentations on meditation, positivity and overcoming the obstacles to success. Debbie Dixon is also on board to lead us through yoga and the advice given in her book The Path to Freedom.

Windstar Star Legend may be a small ship but suites, and en-suite bathrooms are spacious and guests can always find a quiet spot. High on Deck 8, The Yacht Club, a library-cum-cafe-cum-lounge, with views across the ocean, becomes a second home for many guests. The Yacht Club day begins with a 6am tea or coffee served by Paka and continues through Jennifer’s freshly baked scones for afternoon tea.

Most evenings, most guests opt for classic dining in the elegant and very spacious Amphora restaurant where the menu changes daily. Though this was the maiden voyage for Basil and Bamboo, an exciting restaurant concept where East meets West, where Mediterranean meets Oriental and where guests keep booking for the following night. Meanwhile, Candles caters for steak fans alongside fish and vegan options. On cooler winter evenings Star Grill is more of a lunchtime option, but Windstar regulars reminisce about Star Grill BBQs in warmer seasons.

Throughout Windstar cruises, guests have open access to the bridge, learning about navigation and watches from the officers on duty, unless Star Legend is on port manoeuvres. One evening an officer gives us a tour of the night sky.

When the ship docks in Valencia, guests can book to accompany the chef on his discerning quest for fresh fish, salad and veg in the city’s covered market. If you think you are entering an art nouveau steel structure of soaring domes and stained-glass windows, akin to a railway structure, remember that architect Francisco Mora Berenguer had previous experience of railway stations.

Windstar guests are well-travelled and the excursions on offer reflect the fact. For example, for first time visitors to Palma there is a general highlights tour. A minibus ascends to the Castillo de Bellver, built by James 1 of Aragon, after his medieval reconquest of Mallorca, to give strategic views over Palma and the coast.

Terrified by an almighty storm on the voyage to Mallorca, James promised God that he would build a vast cathedral if he survived. He did. But it took so long to build that fashions changed from Gothic, to Baroque, to Renaissance, to Modernism along the architectural journey.

For more experienced Palma aficionados there was an excursion to the Drach Caves where an orchestra played amongst the stalactites and stalagmites, combined with a visit to the monastery where Chopin had stayed and written. Alternatively, another excursion strolled through Palma’s charming courtyard patios.

Similarly with Valencia, for first time visitors there is a highlights tour, that takes in the new City of Arts and Sciences – of Science Museum, IMAX cinema, Opera House, Aquarium and old Túria riverbed – before visiting the Old Town.

Other guests head to a Valencian finca’s garden to pick the veg for a paella-making masterclass. Learning the skill of creating the crispy, caramelized layer of rice known as the socarrat. There isn’t a prawn or mussel in sight as a Valencian paella focuses on chicken and rabbit.

While in Cartagena, a walking tour takes in a tapas trail and an introduction to a historic city that didn’t rediscover its Roman theatre until 1988. Emphasising the fact that Windstar visit ports away from the usual cruise routes, Star Legend is the only cruise ship in the port.

Malaga, Gibraltar, Cartagena, Valencia, Palma and Barcelona – in some ways the destinations don’t matter. Life on a Windstar Cruise is relaxed but also more intense. The excursions have cultural depth, the speakers bring new insights, and the cuisine serves up flavours beyond the ordinary.

Tell Me More About the Windstar Star Legend and Windstar Cruises.

T: 0800 008 6682 E: windstaruk@cruiseline.co.uk

Windstar Cruises operates year-round in the Mediterranean. 2026 prices for Star Legend’s off-season Mediterranean cruises start from £2,900 per person for an eight-night Winter Italy & the Adriatic sailing departing 31st March.

In 2027, Windstar Cruises’ newest ship, Star Explorer will be christened at London’s Tower Bridge and will be based year-round in the Mediterranean with prices starting from £5257 per person for a seven-night Europe’s Winter Riviera sailing departing 15th January 2027