Winstar Cruises Reorganizes

Windstar Cruises

Has a New Future

Ambassadors International, Inc., parent company of Windstar Cruises,  announced that it has entered into an agreement with Whippoorwill Associates, Inc., as agent to sell the cruise line through a court-supervised sale process.  Ambassadors and its U.S. subsidiaries today voluntarily filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

UPDATE:  May 19, 2011

New Buyer Victorious in Bidding War

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved the sale of Windstar Cruises and other assets to TAC Cruise LLC, an affiliate of Xanterra Holding Corp.

The sale is expected to close the week of May 23.  TAC is expected to pay $39M in cash for the cruise line.   Xanterra Holdings Corp. is based in Colorado and has been in the hospitality industry for 100 years.

No Impact On Current Operations

According to a statement released by the company, "Ambassadors and Windstar intend to continue normal business operations during the sale process, which is proposed to be completed in approximately 45 days.

Windstar also plans, subject to court approval, to continue to:

• Operate all Windstar cruises as scheduled;
• Maintain all of Windstar's customer programs and policies;
• Honor all Windstar fares and reservations, including charter contracts;
• Provide commissions and payments to its travel partners as usual and employee wages and benefits without interruption; and
• Pay all Windstar vendors and suppliers for goods and services received both before and during the reorganization process in connection with the sale. 

See the complete details of this transaction ...  Ambassadors International Enters Into Agreement to Sell Windstar Business and Operations to Private.

Windstar Cruises consists of a fleet of three small ships, Wind Spirit, Wind Star, and Wind Surf.

The small, sleek yachts of Windstar are made for seeing the world quite literally from a different point of view.


For the small ship lover, this is good news that the cruise line will continue operations.   According to the press release, there are even plans for expansion under the reorganization.


We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as additional details are released.

Cruise West Continues Restructuring

Port of Seattle, Washington

Seattle-based Cruise West is continuing it's restructuring of the company as it attempts to survive.  We first broke the news several days ago that the Spirit of Oceanus' world cruise had been terminated in Newfoundland, Canada.   (Cruise West Undergoing Restructuring).

We have learned that the Washington state Employment Security Department has received a legally required layoff notification from Cruise West.. The department says Cruise West laid off 24 employees last Wednesday and another 41 were to be laid off starting last Friday.  This isn't a surprising event since new bookings were suspended when the original news broke.

Meanwhile other sources indicate that the Spirit of Oceanus might be on the chopping block, which would make sense based on the termination of the world cruise.   Cruise West has been very silent throughout this process but the announcement released September 8th did indicate some cruises would continue through October.

UPDATE: Spirit of Oceanus Sold

When Cruise West abruptly terminated the 335 day world cruise on Spirit of Oceanus last week, it was rumored that the ship would be sold.    We now know the rest of the story...

Spirit of Oceanus has indeed been sold by ship management company International Shipping Partners (ISP), on Cruise West's behalf, to a group of  Danish investors. The ship will be renamed Sea Spirit, and will be available for long-term charter according to ISP.   Full story: ISP Insider

So ends the story of the Spirit of Oceanus.  Secrecy continues surrounding the various changes at Cruise West.   No word yet on the fate of the other ships in the fleet or the company itself.

If you are scheduled to sail on Cruise West, keep a close eye on this developing story.