Small-ship specialist Windstar Cruises plans to relocate its office 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 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.”
The Miami office will accommodate mostly cruise operation functions and some direct supporting teams to operations. Other functions such as marketing, revenue, accounting and IT will move to the Denver headquarters of its owner, Xanterra Travel Collection.
“Windstar is poised for success in the small-ship cruise segment,” said Andrew N. Todd, CEO of Windstar 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 plans to open the new Miami office and transition shared/support services to Denver in June 2022. Windstar said it expects some employees will choose to work remotely from the Seattle area and others to relocate to Miami or Denver, depending on job function.
Prelog said that, as the center of the cruise industry in the U.S., a Miami office will help build industry relationships and attract new talent. It will also let operations employees in Miami be closer to the line’s ships and crew as they pass through Florida and shorten flight times to the ships in Europe and the Caribbean.
Windstar also pushed back dates for resuming cruise operations to June after reviewing current information on COVID transmission rates, travel restrictions and government regulations. The line will re-start cruise operations in a phased manner with initial cruises at a reduced guest occupancy, some modified itineraries, and enhanced health and safety protocols. For ships and dates, click here. Windstar Cruises announced today it will extend its Wave Season offer through March 31, 2021. For details, click here.
