BLOWING IN THE WIND; travel Catherine Stott enjoys a Caribbean odyssey on the world's largest sailing ship.

SAILING out of Barbados at midnight, Captain Jan Ove Lidal pressed a computer button on the bridge of the Wind Surf. Two minutes later, the sky above us was full of sail billowing from five very tall masts.

Wind Surf was still in full sail next morning as we ate eggs Benedict on deck, racing by the rain-forested twin peaks of St Lucia. No wonder the three deluxe motor sailing yachts that comprise the Windstar Cruises fleet regularly win awards for the World's Most Romantic Cruise Line.

Despite the sail-fakery, the feel is of a luxurious private yacht, albeit a rather large one.

As the world's largest sailing ship, Wind Surf takes 312 guests in deluxe, oceanview staterooms fitted with sumptuous fabrics, fabulous beds, power-showers, granite counter tops, flatscreen TVs, DVD players, iPods, fridges, classy bathrobes and L'Occitane toiletries. To complete the pampering, there's one helpful crew member to every one and a half passengers.

For our seven-night Caribbean odyssey, there were 70 British passengers and about the same number of Americans, plus handfuls of French Canadians, Continental Europeans and a sprinkling of fun-loving Brazilionaires.

While younger ones were drawn by the promise of free watersports from a nifty let-down rear platform, there were also some keen divers (which cost extra), water-skiers, windsurfers and kayakers.

Our fellow passengers were a well travelled, well-educated bunch from all age groups. Well-dressed too, though as the dress code is "casual elegance" - only the waiters wore jackets and ties.

Tables for two were plentiful - good news for the many honeymooners - but if you felt like company, you could be seated with new people at each meal. We met a lot of doctors, a third-generation jeweller, a nursing home owner, a wellknown artist and a jolly pair who had camped in every state in the US.

The food was truly healthy, with vast platters of tropical fruit and multiple salad options in the breakfast and lunch buffets, plus plenty of seafood, choice lean meat and perfectly cooked vegetables. But desserts could be almost sinful, and posh burgers were always available from a deckside grill.

Revealingly, an awesomely large gym was always packed with weightlifters, rowers and treadmill pounders. It was the favoured onboard location of Victoria Beckham lookalikes with surgically enhanced figures.

With no organised nightlife beyond dancing and a small casino, mostly people made their own after-dinner entertainment, or relaxed on loungers in the warm evening breeze.

On our second day, safely anchored off St Kitts, some went diving, others to the beach. The less active took a scenic train ride and we strolled about the dinky capital Basseterre, where boutiques sold beautiful locally designed silk and linen clothes, rather than the usual tourist tat.

Back on board we lunched on barbecued lobster tails as the Captain sailed us swiftly across The Narrows to nearby Nevis, a cone-shaped volcanic island.

A stiff walk out of the stone-built town brought us to stunning palm-fringed Pinney's Beach and the island's central party spot, Sunshine's Beach Bar, where the man himself fixed us his infamous Killer Bee rum punch.

Sunshine is clearly a celeb in his own right and pictures of him with some of his famous clientele (Fergie and daughters, Michael Douglas, Oprah Winfrey, Mel Gibson) adorn the wall of his iconic hut.

Next stop was the French speaking, "euro-islands", far less spoilt than the places regularly visited by the superliners.

First up came half-French, half-Dutch St Martin. The latter was all malls, dutyfree shops, casinos and traffic jams, while the French part clung to the last vestiges of faded colonial charm.

We caught a one-euro bus to the Grand Anse beach, had a blissful dip and a grilled fish lunch on the beach.

But the island everyone was waiting for was St Barts, the Cannes of the Caribbean, winter hot spot of the most famous jetsetters. Scarily expensive boutiques line the waterfront, targeting the mega-yachts across the quay.

But town bars and cafes are cheap and cheerful, filled with yachties and their motley crew, good for people watching.

In contrast, Guadeloupe and its main town of Basseterre come across as crumbling but colourful. Old men sit in zinc bars knocking back absinthe, while women in tartan-checked cotton frocks and turbans hawked mangos in lilting French Creole accents.

Later we sailed six miles south to the magical Ile des Saintes, which boasts beaches, French bistros, cafe-bars and a clothes market. We walked, we swam, we drank chilled wine. And oh boy, did we want to stay for longer.

But whenever we returned to Wind Surf our cabin was immaculately tidy, the bathroom beyond spotless. The service was perfect.

Our last day's cruise saw us disembark by ship's tender at Pigeon Island, St Lucia.

Here the indefatigable crew had set up an astounding barbecue buffet, bar and loungers on the beach. While we feasted and danced to the enthralling throb of a steel band we could glimpse Wind Surf's tall masts in the fierce sunlight. It was the perfect finale to a spectacular cruise.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Catherine Stott was a guest of Windstar Cruises (0207 292 2387), which operates two seven-night itineraries out of Barbados over the winter months from pounds 2,498 (two sharing) for a nine-night fly-cruise in November 2009. Package includes return flights, pre-cruise hotel night in Barbados, transfers and taxes. In the summer, Windstar ships come to Europe, with prices from pounds 1,636 on a Barcelona-Rome voyage in April

CAPTION(S):

Stunning St Barts (main), Wind Surf's deck (left) and the twin peaks St Lucia (right)