By Donna Tunney / Travel Weekly
A watersports platform folds down at the Royal Clipper's stern. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Star Clippers
Most of the guests on the Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Royal Clipper were over age 50, and many were 70 and up. But during dinner service on the final evening of our seven-night sailing, the ship's hotel manager, Peter Burkhard, awarded a certificate to a special guest many years younger than most of us. Little Beatrice, who had yet to reach her first birthday, was recognized as the youngest passenger ever to sail aboard Royal Clipper.
As a bonus, Burkhard gleefully explained, her presence on the ship had drastically lowered the average age of the passengers. This brought the crowd to its feet with hoots, hollers and hoorays as well as plenty of applause, creating a celebratory scene that embodied the jovial atmosphere we had experienced throughout the past week.
The Royal Clipper, a five-masted tall ship with capacity for 227 guests, is the flagship of the three-vessel Star Clippers line and was acquired and redesigned by Star Clippers owner Mikael Krafft in 2000.
For the record, the presence of children of any age onboard this ship is a rarity, and the vessel's lack of elevators keeps the number of very elderly guests and those with mobility challenges extremely low.
Royal Clipper is nothing like a traditional cruise ship in the contemporary sense but exactly like a traditional tall ship in the historical sense. It was modeled on the Preussen, a German-built, five-masted cargo ship built in 1902.
Outside double cabins top out at 145 square feet, with storage space under the bed and in one closet. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Star Clippers
Casual elegance
Royal Clipper's interior style is classic 19th century, with dark wood paneling, leather furnishings, brass fixtures, nautical decor and patterned wallpapers. It could easily double as a members-only yacht club in a swanky destination, yet its ambience is unpretentious and casual.
The ship attracts sailing enthusiasts and seasoned cruisers looking for a unique vacation at sea, one that offers a taste of adventure.
Unlike today's typical cruise ships, it has no speciality dining venues, no stage shows, no thrill rides. It has one dining room, where adequate breakfast and lunch buffets are served, followed by an open-seating dinner service. This is when the chef excels, providing extravagant, multicourse menus that are inspired and delicious.
The Royal Clipper's 54,000 square feet of billowing sails enable a unique cruising experience. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Star Clippers
The 439-foot-long Royal Clipper has 114 staterooms, and most are small by industry standards. There are two owner's suites, 14 deluxe balcony staterooms, two deck cabins, 90 outside doubles and six inside cabins.
Outside doubles have portholes and range from 118 to 145 square feet. Inside cabins reach just 108 square feet, and the deck cabins are 156 square feet. These are very cozy spaces for two average-size adults.
The numbers improve in the balcony staterooms, which offer 280 square feet, and in the two owner's suites, each measuring 430 square feet.
I was prepared for a cramped cabin, since I had reached out before sailing to one of Royal Clipper's top-producing agents looking for insights into this unique cruise product.
Valerie Szymanski of Val's Travel in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., noted that the accommodations are small but added, "The emphasis on Royal Clipper is all about being on deck, not in a cabin."
She was right: The action on deck is virtually nonstop. Royal Clipper uses sail power to the greatest degree possible, and guests enjoyed watching the crew raise and lower the vessel's 42 sails each day, as the winds and course shifted.
On our cruise in mid-December, the wind was continuously strong, and it enabled the ship to move solely by sail power along an amazing 65% of our route, ship's officers pointed out. (Generators fueled hotel operations.)
Light entertainment
The dining room forms the base of the ship's three-story atrium. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Star Clippers
Entertainment comes in the form of a pianist, who performs solo in the Piano Lounge every afternoon and with a singer in the open-air Tropical Bar in the early evening. He dons a DJ hat each night, also in the Tropical Bar, and beckons cruisers onto the dance floor, but this is not a hot-nightlife ship; it's quiet by midnight.
The nationalities of guests included Brits, who made up the lion's share of passengers, followed by Americans, Germans, French and Canadians.
Our cruise called at Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Iles des Saintes and Martinique.
Shore excursions included kayaking, rum-making, snorkeling and hiking. A watersports platform at the ship's stern is opened when weather permits.
The ship is sailing four itineraries through winter 2024, all roundtrip from Barbados, before departing the Caribbean on March 30 and spending the summer in the Mediterranean.
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