Windstar Cruises
Renamed Star Pride, the ship entered service for Windstar Cruises on May 5, 2014.[10] She was rechristened by Mrs. Nancy Anschutz, wife of Mr. Philip Anschutz, owner of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Windstar's parent company.[11]
On December 22, 2015, Star Pride hit a reef near the pacific coast of Panama. The passengers and crew were stranded for over 15 hours on Coiba, a Panamanian island and national park. The passengers were rescued by another Windstar boat, the Star Breeze, and Paul Gauguin Cruise's ship, the Tere Moana. She was salvaged and put back into service on June 9, 2016.[12]
In 2016, the ship was refurbished, with interior finish updates, and expanded verandah cafe seating leading to the removal and infill of the original swimming pool. The top outdoor deck was expanded by four feet on each side, giving additional space for deck chairs. The Star Deck also had a new counter-current pool and whirlpool installed, replacing the two previous whirlpools, and the card room was transformed to a screening room.[13]
On 7 September 2018, Star Pride lost power while in Buzzards Bay between Woods Hole and Martha's Vineyard off Massachusetts, United States. The ship anchored, and regained power after several hours. Commercial tugboats went to its aid. The US Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, to police a security zone around the ship.[14] Star Pride later sailed to Newport, Rhode Island for inspection, and was then cleared to sail to New York, to disembark passengers and prepare for its next voyage. The ship had experienced a loss of cooling water for the engine systems, causing an automatic shutdown of the propulsion and auxiliary engines.[15]
Stretching
In 2018, as part of Star Plus initiative, it was announced that Windstar would stretch(25.6-meter midsection), renovate and re-engine its three Star-class ships: Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride.[16] Ray Chung, director of design for The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry in New York, was hired to design new suites and public spaces. New public areas, including two new dining venues, a new spa, infinity pool, 50 cabins and fitness area were added, with the ship's capacity increasing from 208 passengers to 312.[17] The ship also had its seven engines removed and replaced with four new environmentally friendly engines.[16] The original custom built gantry tenders were removed from the aft waters-sports bay and donated to Maritime University Scalda in the Netherlands, with new standard tenders placed at the life boat location.[18] The stretching was conducted at Fincantieri
