Windstar Cruises is rolling out three new complimentary Destination Discovery Events for 2027, giving guests after-hours entrée to a 16th-century Medici fortress in Livorno, a 15th-century Dominican cloister in Dubrovnik, and—on just three sailings—the Tower of London after the landmark closes to the public. The additions bring the program to seven events across 165 sailings and all eight vessels in the Windstar Cruises fleet, more than doubling its previous reach.
The Food & Drink Angle
For hospitality operators tracking experiential travel trends, the F&B programming is central to each event. In Livorno, guests gather inside the Fortezza Vecchia for locally inspired cocktails, Tuscan canapés, and live music led by local docents—an experience that leans heavily on regional provenance and the kind of curated, place-specific food storytelling that has become a differentiator across luxury travel. In Dubrovnik, the evening opens with sparkling wine and traditional klapa singers inside a centuries-old cloister before moving to the historic Marin Držić Theatre for Croatian music and dance. The Tower of London event features a British-inspired reception in the New Armouries Courtyard, alongside a private Crown Jewels viewing and access to the Yeoman Warders—pairing ceremonial heritage with curated food and beverage in a setting no conventional hospitality venue can replicate.
Chief Operating Officer Stijn Creupelandt framed the program's philosophy plainly: "Destination Discovery Events are about having an extraordinary place feel like it's yours for the evening." That positioning—exclusive access plus localized F&B—mirrors a broader shift in luxury hospitality programming toward experiences that cannot be purchased off-the-shelf by independent travelers.
Star Explorer and the 2027 Season
The new events debut alongside the inaugural European season of Star Explorer, Windstar's newest 224-guest all-suite yacht, which sets sail December 28, 2026, on a maiden round-trip from Barcelona. The ship carries 112 suites, most with private verandas or floor-to-ceiling infinity windows, and introduces Basil + Bamboo, a specialty restaurant blending Asian and Mediterranean influences—an addition worth noting for food and beverage concept development watchers tracking what resonates with luxury small-ship guests.
The vessel's compact footprint also enables port calls that larger cruise ships cannot make: docking in the Venice lagoon steps from the city center, sailing up the Thames beneath Tower Bridge, and navigating European rivers inaccessible to mass-market ships. Following a Mediterranean debut, Star Explorer moves north for summer 2027, covering the British Isles, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, and the Baltic before returning to the Mediterranean in the fall.
Windstar's Local Season program—its fall and winter Mediterranean schedule—continues to build itineraries around seasonal traditions and extended port stays. Early 2027 sailings include overnights in Venice during Carnevale and Epiphany, double overnights in Barcelona for Gaudí architecture exploration, and late departures that allow guests to linger into local evenings—a scheduling philosophy increasingly valued by travelers who want dinner ashore rather than on deck. The Tower of London event, the most capacity-limited of the three new experiences, is available on Star Pride's April 29 and May 13 departures and on Star Explorer's May 23 Christening Voyage circumnavigating Ireland.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
