Having just played through Wind Waker for the first time a few months ago, so my perspective is pretty fresh.
The specific part mentioned took a few minutes of thought... but both characters you need to visit are pretty notable NPCs so I had no issue remembering where to go looking. (There are really only a small number of inhabited islands to search anyway though, so it doesn't seem like a wider search would've been that hard.)
My take is the game (and the series overall) is fairly well laid out - not holding your hand but giving strong hints of where to go so that you can continue to progress. I certainly wouldn't want Zelda games to be any easier. If you do get stuck, then it's easy to check a (free, conveniently available online) guide and get yourself back on track. Of course, I am the type of person who will explore and look for nooks and crannies in the world without prompting, so that likely affects my take.