Tall Ships – Sailing the Sea in Style.
June 19, 2009 by Fran Walker
Filed under Cruises
Since both the Wonderful Man(W.M) I married and I love the sea, boats, beaches in the sun, and travel, we decided to sail aboard the Star Clipper sailing vessel in the Caribbean, for our honeymoon. My only demand was that it be luxurious… no roughing it for me for this special trip, and not too many people or planned activities every minute. We flew to St.Maarten, to board the Star Clipper, a beautiful sailing ship in the tradition of the very rich and famous.
Our cabin was quite comfortable, with a marble shower, TV, vanity, queen size bed, and a porthole overlooking the rest of the harbor. Fortunately WM, wise in the way of boats, had cautioned not to pack huge steamer suitcases. “We don’t need all that formal stiff shirt stuff, just nice casual for evening dining, and only shorts, swim wear for the rest of the time.” As a result, our luggage slid comfortably under our bed, with the remainder of our clothes hung or put in one of the many drawers. I laughed inwardly to think of my concerns for some luxury, as we listened to Csaba play cocktail melodies (and most anything else you wanted to hear) before dinner.
At our dinner table, we met two other couples and two people traveling alone. Some were on such a cruise for the first time and some were returning for a third time, although previously they had traveled to the Mediterranean or the Far East aboard a Star Clipper ship. Our waiters were expertly trained and smoothly, unobtrusively served our dinner. The wine steward advised us on wine and served the bottle of our choice. That first night, I tried all six courses, including a cheese course before dessert(s). W.M. and I ordered different things (steak for him, lamb for me) and traded bites just to taste. Whew! Thereafter, I was more restrained and often skipped a course or ate just a taste. Eating, for those who chose, could become a major activity on this cruise. Not only is there an early bird breakfast, but a breakfast buffet and a lunch buffet. There was an afternoon snack during cocktail hour, followed by dinner, then a midnight snack. A “snack” aboard Star Clipper always entails a choice among four to six or more dishes.
After dinner, we joined many of the passengers topside, to participate in the setting of the sails for St Barth. What could be more romantic than a full moon shining a silver highway to – forever? Many drifted to the Sail Away Celebration, with music and dancing, but we had been traveling since morning and elected to go below to our cabin, to be rocked in this cradle of the deep.
By morning we were moored close off the quaint city of Gustavia, St. Barth, with an array of activities available to us, like water sports, SCUBA dive instructions, and a snorkel safari with a zodiac. There were walking tours around the harbor and shopping strolls around the little city. W.M. elected for the walking tour, during which he got some beautiful photos looking down on the town and harbor, with our proud clipper ship moored. I elected to stroll the chic shops and observe the people and life on the island. Bikes and motorbikes outnumber cars. Everyone speaks English, and money is in dollars or Euros. Tenders from our ship ran to shore and back about every 20 minutes, so transportation was no problem.
Life in this tropical dream was tranquil, but no two days were alike. Each night we sailed to arrive at another island: St Barth, Nevis, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Ile de Saintes, Antigua, and back to St. Maarten. Of course, each island was different, some with mountains of old volcanoes, some low and flat. Some featured waterfalls, bird watching, rainforest hikes, botanical and nature hikes, and some featured horseback riding, beach swimming and snorkeling, all with a small town. In almost every stop, there was a beautiful curved beach, and our sports staff from the ship was there to assist and safeguard everyone and supply our Laser-type small boats, snorkeling gear and banana boat rides. On Antigua, the ship provided a barbeque lunch on the beach, complete with a real Caribbean steel band.
Our last day we disembarked early, but our flight was not scheduled to leave until that afternoon. So, we elected for the Star Clipper’s package offering transfer from the ship to Divi Little Bay Resort, to spend one more day in the sun until our airport transportation would arrive.
For more information about Star Clipper’s Tall Ships cruises visit www.starclippers.com.
