Carla Hines Joins Windstar Cruises in the Newly-Created Role of Manager, Sales Operations & Enablement

Windstar Cruises has appointed Carla Hines as Manager, Sales Operations and Enablement, a newly-created role focused on making it easier for teams and partners around the world to sell Windstar’s style of small-ship exploration and immersive cultural discovery.

Based in the UK and reporting into Windstar’s managing director, global commercial Helen Beck, Carla will support the company’s global commercial teams by improving sales processes, tools and systems, and ensuring teams and partners worldwide can operate more efficiently and effectively as Windstar continues its international growth.

Carla, who has a strong commercial background with plenty of experience in cruise and travel sales, has a proven track record in working with trade partners and driving growth and a reputation for combining strategic thinking with practical, hands-on delivery. Prior to joining Windstar, she was head of sales for the EMEA region for Hurtigruten and also spent time with Royal Caribbean International, initially as a senior trading executive before becoming head of sales administration EMEA.

The new role has been created to bring greater structure and consistency to Windstar’s global sales operations, helping commercial teams spend less time on administration and more time supporting travel advisors and driving sales. As the company grows its fleet and global footprint, Hines will play a key role in translating commercial strategy into practical, scalable processes that support continued growth.

Working closely with teams across sales, marketing, revenue management and operations, Hines will help streamline booking and pipeline reporting, identify opportunities to improve workflows, and ensure best practices are shared across all markets. She will also support training and onboarding initiatives to help teams maximise the benefits of new tools and systems.

Helen Beck, Windstar’s managing director, global commercial, comments: “Carla is joining the team at exactly the right time as we grow our global footprint and I’m excited for the contributions that her experience and knowledge bring us.  If we can make sales feel easier and faster for our teams and our partners, that’s a big win.”

Carla adds: “Sales operations should make life easier, not more complicated. The opportunity here is to build things that people genuinely want to use, and that help our teams and partners sell with confidence without adding unnecessary layers.”

The timing aligns with significant fleet expansion and a total of eight yachts sailing around the world: Star Seeker, the newest Star Class all-suite yacht, joined the fleet in December 2025 and Star Explorer will debut in December 2026, creating additional capacity and new itinerary opportunities for UK agents and their clients, especially with a naming in London in June 2027. The new yachts also allow Windstar to return their much-loved sailing ship back to Tahiti with Wind Star joining Star Breeze in March 2027.

For more information visit www.windstarcruises.com