SETTING SAIL FOR A CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE

To be on the deck of a cruise ship at sunrise is always a memorable occasion. What makes it an unforgettable experience is when, for those precious few minutes, the early sun paints the sails on the ship with a marvellous orange light and you lean over the bow watching the dolphins riding the wave.

Sails and cruise ships? You’re probably thinking I’m talking about tiny yachts but trust me and read on and you’ll discover a whole element to luxury, niche cruising and one company that gets a huge return booking element from its customers.

Star Clippers are renowned worldwide for their service and the experience they offer their passengers of comfortable, crewed sailing on traditional clipper ships, built to uncompromising yacht safety, with the elegant surroundings of a private yacht of a bygone age. At the present time the company has three ships in their fleet and all are modern, high-tech re-creations of the classic clippers that dominated the oceans of the world in the 19^th century.

To me, however, the real beauty is that because these vessels are smaller than conventional cruise ships, they can call into ports untouched by the larger craft. This was certainly true of our trip on Royal Clipper around The Windward Islands, where we dropped anchor in tiny inlets to spend time snorkelling or lying on the empty beaches of isolated islands such as the Tobago Cays and the coast of Martinique.

The fact the passenger count is so small compared to the thousands found on bigger ships means you really do get to know your fellow travellers. And the two minutes it takes to walk around the ship along its elegant corridors and up and down the Edwardian-style staircases means you can’t fail to meet and talk to everyone else.

So what do get for your money that makes it so different from a normal cruise ship? There are no entertainments, cinemas or Broadway musicals on board but there are 1,800sq metres of open deck area and three swimming pools (admittedly not that big), one with a glass bottom that filters light down through a three-level atrium to the Dining Room below.

There’s an indoor-outdoor Tropical Bar near the stern which was the place everybody met up and where the ice melted extremely quickly for all of us; an elegant Piano Lounge; a library; and a watersports platform at the stern that was lowered when the ship was at anchor and from where we canoed, dived and swam in the Caribbean or went water ski-ing or windsurfing. There is also an underwater Spa and Lounge, offering hairdressing, massage and beauty treatments in rooms with underwater portholes.

However, the real difference that makes Star Clippers such a unique experience is that you are not just a passenger but you have the opportunity should you so wish to become part of the crew and, indeed, get under the skin of these magnificent vessels.

In my short time on board I helped the crew put up the sails, learned various knots, watched as the captain talked us through turning her through 360 degrees, held the wheel, learned about navigation and even helped swab down the decks on one occasion!

Royal Clipper is 134 metres (439ft) long and carries 42 sails with a total area of 5,000sq metres. All three ships will sail wherever possible, although they can use engine power if there is not enough wind, allowing them to keep to their sailing schedules.

We actually got a laminated sheet labelling each of the sails and the masts so, by the end of the week, I was impressing the crew by asking why the first three bowsprit sails were up but not the Fore-Topmast-Staysail! 

Climbing up the rigging (you’re attached to a winch for safety) to the Crow’s Nest situated halfway up the main mast was also an experience – especially the view down. To me, however, the sight of the riggers skipping along the spars high above me really made my day.

There may not be any of the glamorous organised entertainment which you find on the bigger ships but, to be honest, I didn’t miss it at all. If you don’t want to socialise, you have the chance to find secluded areas to sit, read and chat – or even sleep on deck at nights if you wish!

Some evenings we went to the talks given by Mariano, the ship’s marine biologist, on topics ranging from the turtles we could see to the type of shells we would encounter. His walks on the beaches and snorkelling tours were simply amazing, as were the dolphin and whale-watching sessions. 

Life on board is equally ultra-relaxed. All three ships maintain a smart-casual dress code, with beach or resort-wear on deck during the day and casual during the evening. Definitely no bling or dinner jackets! I also found deck shoes were the best footwear for daytimes.

There is one gala night per cruise where people dress up a little more and I wore my blazer and an open neck shirt for this. Black tie events or dinners just don’t happen on these cruises, though.

So, is there one abiding memory of my time on this amazing cruise that stands out in my mind?

Well, it has to be the time when the ship sets sail and makes her way majestically to her next port accompanied by the two tenders that allow you to photograph this magnificent spectacle from the sea.

There, in that brief half an hour, you can truly imagine what it must have been like in the days when these magnificent vessels ruled the shipping lanes.