Last week at Fincantieri Shipyard in Palermo Italy, John Gunner - Windstar’s VP of Expansion Projects, participated in a traditional steel cutting for a new mid-ship section being constructed for Star Pride.
The new hull+superstructure section is part of Windstar’s USD 250 Million Star Plus Initiative, called "the most complex and comprehensive small ship lengthening, engine replacement, and transformation project, undertaken in cruising."
Star Pride’s 84-foot mid-section will allow for the addition of fifty new suites, 2 new restaurants, a new retail shop, a re-imagined spa and fitness center, an elevated pool, new bathrooms in all suites and other improvements. With this new section, Star Pride (and sisterships Star Legend and Star Breeze) will be able to accommodate 312 passengers versus the current 212.
An identical new mid-ship section has already been fabricated and inserted into Star Breeze, which is due to be completed on May 4, 2020. Star Legend’s new mid-ship section is under construction and on schedule to be joined with the vessel this spring.
Star Pride is scheduled for completion on November 29, 2020, and her first voyage is a December 6 Transatlantic sailing to the Caribbean where she will sail until mid-April, 2021.