NICHE WAY TO SEE A DIFFERENT SIDE OF THE CARIBBEAN
Weeklong journey aboard smaller vessel an ideal winter getaway
This is about the time of year I always tell people to start looking for their winter cruise getaways. For most of us, that means looking to warm, sunny destinations such as the Caribbean — the quintessential getaway from the Canadian winter. What you might not know is that cruises to the Caribbean aren’t limited to ships with thousands of people pulling into ports with even more people choking the streets and the beaches.
My favourite is the hidden Caribbean: the little islands and towns that you’ve never heard of. Of course, the best way to see this Caribbean is aboard a small ship — one that’s guaranteed to turn heads, even as you sail right past those big megaships.
The 439-foot long Royal Clipper is the flagship of niche sailing line Star Clippers (starclippers. com), a European-based cruise line with a fleet of three shockingly beautiful clipper ships. Of these, Royal Clipper is the largest, capable of holding 227 guests in staterooms that are so wonderfully nautical you’ll think you’ve stepped back in time.
With five massive masts and 42 billowing sails, Royal Clipper commands attention wherever she goes. Although she has an auxiliary diesel engine, she’s designed to operate under sail power only as much as possible. As a guest, you don’t have to do anything other than sit back in a deck chair.
I sailed aboard Royal Clipper last December, on a weeklong cruise out of Barbados. When I first stepped on board, I was amazed to see a glistening threestorey atrium that rises from the ship’s wood-panelled dining room up through the clubby Piano Bar. The ceiling of the atrium is quite unique as well. Made entirely of glass, it also doubles as the bottom of the midships swimming pool above it. This connection with the sea continues throughout the ship, right down to the undersea gymnasium and spa, with its tempered glass portholes that look out into the ocean below the waterline.
Except for Barbados, my Star Clippers itinerary took me to a different side of the Caribbean. Our first port of call was a surprise — the “Captain’s Choice,” as the line says. We ended up anchoring off Union Island in the Grenadines for a beach day. The crew of the ship set up a bar in the sand (you only need to give your stateroom number and drinks are charged to your on-board account), and guests relaxed as if they were on their own private island.
That theme continued in the uninhabited Tobago Keys, Grenada, where a beachside buffet lunch barbecue was served to guests. Tender service ran back and forth to the ship throughout the day, and I enjoyed sitting out on Royal Clipper’s gorgeous teak deck, reading a book and sipping the (suitably tropical sounding) Drink of the Day.
But it’s not all deserted beaches and isolated islands. My itinerary included stops in pretty St. Georges, Grenada, where spice shopping and rum punch cocktails rule the day. We also called on French Martinique, where the currency is in euros and the vibe is half Caribbean, half Parisian.
Since Star Clippers is a European-based cruise line, about half of our guests hailed from the continent. It gives the ship a wonderfully international feel that is unlike any big-ship cruise you might have taken to the Caribbean. Onboard charges are also conducted in euros, which can get a bit expensive given our current exchange rate. My advice? Just budget a little more for those on-board expenses.
This year, Royal Clipper returns to the Caribbean on Nov. 26 for her first voyage in the region: a weeklong jaunt from Dutch St. Maarten to Bridgetown, Barbados. Her winter season will mainly consist of seven-day voyages from Barbados to the Windward and Leeward islands. Smaller sibling Star Flyer operates cruises out of St. Maarten, and a handful cruises to Cuba that sail from Havana to Cienfuegos or the reverse.
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