Two weeks off the Star Pride in the Mediterranean between Barcelona and Rome’s port of Civitavecchia, and still I am humming the theme from “1492: Conquest of Paradise.”
The stirring sounds by Greek composer Vangelis play at the end of each day at sail-away, on all Windstar ships.
The music is upbeat, proud, and commanding, a moment to remember.
Several passengers told me they get goose bumps when they hear “1492.”
On the three sailing yachts, passengers make certain to be on deck for the daily sail-away pageantry as the sails are raised.
So what does Windstar do on the Star Pride, the first of three power yachts to join the fleet?
Two officers raise the Windstar flag as the ship pulls out of each port harbor or from its anchorage.
“1492: Conquest of Paradise” is a film released in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage. It was not a financial success, but the music, by Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, professionally known as Vangelis, was a hit. It has been borrowed by sports tournaments, rugby and cricket teams, a boxer, political campaigns in Portugal, and sailing yachts. Vangelis also wrote the score for the films, Chariots of Fire, Antarctica, Blade Runner, and Alexander.
The music fits beautifully with Windstar’s dramatic sail-aways.
Next: Small cruise ship joys, visiting quiet harbors
David Molyneaux writes regularly about cruising news, tips and trends at TravelMavenBlog.com. His cruise trends column appears monthly in U.S. newspapers and on other Internet sites, including AllThingsCruise. He is editor of TheTravelMavens.com
