Windstar Cruises is bolstering South Florida’s cruise industry with its latest news.
The company announced last week that it will relocate its ofices from Seattle to Miami in June 2022.
“With time and space away from our Seattle office, we’ve thought about our location and other possibilities once our two year lease is up,” said Windstar Cruises’ President Christopher Prelog. “Although we have all adapted to working remotely with great success, we have been working on a plan for a new office location. A long timeline is needed to facilitate a smooth transition.
Windstar’s marketing, revenue, accounting and IT teams will transition to the Denver offices of parent company Xanterra Travel Collection. Cruise operation functions will operate from Miami. As the company said in a press release that depending on job function, some employees will work remotely from Seattle and others may relocate to Miami or Denver.
“Windstar is poised for success in the small ship cruise segment,” said Andrew N. Todd, CEO of Windstar Cruises and Xanterra Travel Collection. “Our expert team is nimble and adaptable with many years of experience. We are looking forward to the advantages of a new Miami office, combining teams in Denver and collaborating remotely as we have done this past year.”
Windstar believes that a Miami office “will be beneficial for building industry relationships and attracting new talent” and allows operations employees in the city “to be closer to the line’s ships and crew as they pass through Florida and shorten up flight times to the ships in Europe and the Caribbean.”
Windstar, a small ship cruise line, also announced that operations will restart this June and has cancelled May sailings. Cruises will restart in phases with precautions such as guest occupancy, health and safety protocols and modified itineraries. To encourage bookings, Windstar is extending is Wave Season offer through March 31 with the Sail Small, Live Large with Big Perks offer cruisegoers a choice of complimentary perks in addition to a reduced 5% deposit.
