Come sail away on a clipper
Fall is always the best time to look ahead at the coming year and plan cruises for the spring and summer. Prices are typically good, availability is strong. You don’t have to fight to get that coveted suite or oceanview cabin, for example, and this early out, sailings are rarely ever sold out.
That’s the case with Star Clippers (starclippers.com), which has unleashed a whole roster of exciting itineraries for next year.
If you’re not familiar with Star Clippers, they’re a European-run cruise line with three ships: Star Clipper, Star Flyer and Royal Clipper. Carrying between 170 and 227 guests, these beautiful ships are part classic sailing vessel, part modern cruise ship. Star Clipper and Star Flyer are the smaller and more intimate of the trio. Each has 16 sails with 36,220-square-feet of total area, making these vessels a sight to behold when they’re under sail. Still, the ships hold some unexpected surprises, like a lounge with a skylight that also functions as the bottom of the ship’s swimming pool. Cabins are thoroughly nautical, with porthole windows and plenty of classic wood trim.
Royal Clipper is the largest in the fleet, at 439 feet long and boasting 42 gloriously billowing sails. The ship also has a dedicated lounge, three-storey atrium, wood-panelled dining room, and even a spa and fitness centre with undersea windows that look out into the ocean below the hull.
Star Clippers also makes a point of cutting the engines and sailing — a lot. In fact, my own voyage a few years ago aboard Royal Clipper was noteworthy for how often we sailed — and how little I actually heard any sort of engine noise at all.
On board, a sort of classic sailing camaraderie ensues. The international passenger base is friendly and excited about being “at sea” in a ship like this. These are folks who wouldn’t be caught on a big cruise ship for any reason, preferring instead the more intimate experience that comes from small-ship sailing.
Next year, Star Clippers has quite possibly its best itinerary deployment I’ve seen in the company’s history, with itineraries around the globe.
Royal Clipper and Star Flyer start their year off in the Caribbean, with sailings operating round trip from Barbados and
St. Maarten. These primarily focus on the Leeward, Windward and Treasure Islands, but can include others as well.
Both ships head to the Mediterranean for the summer months, and here Star Clippers excels, as well. With numerous ports and short distances between them, the fleet can spend a large amount of time under sail and more time in port.
Star Clipper, meanwhile, makes its home in Southeast Asia and kicks 2020 off with a number of cruises that operate round trip from Phuket, Thailand, or between Phuket and Singapore. Particularly noteworthy are the vessel’s new itineraries that explore Cambodia for the first time, with calls on Koh Rong and Sihanoukville.
Star Clipper stays in Southeast Asia year-round, and is a great way to see some of the more outof-the-way destinations that the big ships just can’t access.
Star Clippers has a full schedule of special “themed sailings” for next year, including culinary, fashion, yoga, fitness and meditation voyages.
For a real adventure, hop on board one of the ship’s ocean crossings: Royal Clipper heads from Barbados to Lisbon on
April 4, 2020; and Star Flyer makes a westbound crossing from Las Palmas to Barbados on Nov. 8 of this year.
Just remember: When you’re on board Star Clippers, you’re not cruising — you’re sailing.
Happy sailing.
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