Star-Breeze

On Jan 19, 2026, a passenger jumped overboard the 'Star Breeze', following an argument with his wife, while the ship was sailing off the Marquesas Islands, roughly 70 miles west-southwest of Fatu Hiva Island. during a 14-day Tahiti itinerary. The vessel sounded Code Oscar after it was determined that a 66-year-old United States nattional was missing. He went overboard at approximately 2:00 a.m. The precise circumstances remained under investigation and have not been formally confirmed by authorities. Following the alert, maritime authorities were notified and an SAR operation was initiated. The French Navy patrol vessel 'Gardian' was dispatched to the area and arrived at the scene at around 8:00 a.m. to assist in the search efforts. After the initial response, the 'Star Breeze' proceeded to Hiva Oa, arriving later the day. Police investigators then boarded the vessel and began conducting interviews as part of an ongoing inquiry into the events surrounding the incident. The 'Star Breeze' began her current 14-night sailing from Papeete on Jan 15 and was due to return on Jan 29. was is no indication that the itinerary required any adjustments.

The Seattle-based Windstar on Nov 18, 2020, welcomed the'Star Breeze' back into its fleet after a massive, 13-month-long refurbishmen at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Palermo that included the addition of an entirely new segment of 26 meters length amidships. The section, which made the ship about 20% longer, brought the ship 50 new suites and new restaurants, pool decks, retail spaces and an expansive spa and fitness area. In addition, as part of the project, many of the existing areas of the ship were gutted down to the studs and rebuilt, resulting in a vessel that, in many respects, is almost new. The ship also received new engines as part of the lengthening. The new engines will allow the ship to travel faster than it did before, opening up new itineraries to the line. The 'Star Breeze' currently is scheduled to resume service on March 27, 2021. It had been scheduled to restart cruising sooner but early sailings were canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. Report with photos: https://thepointsguy.com/news/windstar-cruise-ship-star-breeze-returns/

Windstar Cruises celebrated the steel-cutting for a renovation project of three of its existing ships on 2 April at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Trieste, Italy. The task comes as part of the line’s US$250 Million Star Plus Initiative to extend Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride by around 25 metres each. Star Breeze will be the first to undergo the renovation in October 2019 and all three are expected to be complete by November 2020. Each ship will be cut in half to allow the installation of a new mid-body section. The enhanced ships will be able to accommodate 100 more passengers and Windstar will hire additional staff to maintain its generous guest-to-staff ratio.

Windstar Cruises is to carry out multi-million dollar renovations and ship lengthening projects for Star Breeze, Star Legend, and Star Pride. The US$250 million Star Plus initiative, which will take place between October 2019 and November 2020 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, will improve every aspect of the onboard experience. In addition, Windstar will replace the seven engines on each ship with four more environmentally friendly engines that will use cleaner fuel to reduce emissions.