March 22,2011 - B.V.I. - Royal - 11 days booked

[WeBeGone]

THANK YOU - Star Clippers wants $25 per person to get us to the hotel from the airport. Think we'll just hop a cab.

[JOBAKE]

Rita and Lou,

 

By a most amazing coincidence we have recently come to be in touch with another couple, who live only a few miles from us, who are also going on this same cruise as us. What with them, you and our friends fom Oz maybe we have found the "A" Team.

[WeBeGone]

Well of course you have!:)

I guess with only 6 weeks to go, I'd better get serious with my research and planning.

[WeBeGone]

One month from today we'll be flying to Barbados !! I can hardly wait.

[JOBAKE]

Rita and Lou. We now have our documents (including shore excursion information) for our Royal Clipper holiday - maybe yours is also to hand or should be available soon.:):)

[WeBeGone]

We got ours about 3 weeks ago but I haven't really had time to look at it. Any excursions that look particulary good??

[JOBAKE]

I recall you saying earlier that, inter alia, you have not been on a yacht (never mind the Royal Clipper). Well, when we visit Antigua one of the trips on offer there is a 2 hour trip on a racing yacht - we have done that there in the past - it's great. The yacht we were on had raced around the world and had crossed the Atlantic twice. It was about 70 feet long. Very spartan inside as is usual for racing yachts. We had a breeze of about 25 knots and were really going. Sadly the yacht we were racing against won the race - by about half a boat's length. Very tight race that. You have the option of helping to trim the sails and having a turn at the helm - at the very least that is very good for a "posed" photo! If you are interested you can book after we get on board the Royal Clipper. We are looking at the Yellow Semi-submarine trip in St. Barts.

[WeBeGone]

We did one of these sailing races in St. Martin. It was the "America's Cup" and was thrilling until the lady next to me threw up in my lap. :eek:

 

Just ordered 11 bottles of wine, one for each night. :D By pre-ordering I can pay in US dollars instead of euros and save a little money. :cool:

[WeBeGone]

One week from right now we'll be checking into the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale for our one night prior to flying to Barbados. I am SOOOOO ready for this vacation.

[JOBAKE]

Well Rita and Lou - we were very pleased to have met you on this great ship.:) Hope you agree - we had a super holiday and met lots of very interesting and nice people. Also noticed that your suntan (like ours) was being added to by the day. I will long remember seeing you looking up at the tens of thousands of square feet of billowing sail above your heads. The Saturday morning we disembarked brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "the morning after the night (ten days!) before".

[WeBeGone]

Yes, we loved meeting you too. Thank you for all your help and advice. The whole trip was a wonderful experience. I'm in the process of uploading 480 photos that I culled from my original 600. :eek: I talked to Star Clippers this morning about booking a Greek island trip for the fall of 2012 but will need to wait a couple of months for those schedules to come out. We'll keep in touch.

[WeBeGone]

If anyone wants to view 450 photos of this trip, click here:

 

http://photo2.walgreens.com/walgreens/share/p=53551302023160194/l=2326490002/g=12300861/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBFB

 

Yes, you'll have to register, but just uncheck the little box and you won't be sent anything in the mail.

[Pavovsky]

Hi,

 

We are going on the BVI trip in December 17 for 10 days. This our first time in the Caribbean and our first cruise (we are a couple in our 30's).

 

Can you give advice on which excursions are worth doing. I don't think expect we will do many excursions, but wondering which we should.

 

Is there any possibility of seeing a bit of the islands or shopping in the morning and do watersports in the afternoon.

 

I have seen references to the drink prices and they seem quite reasonable. Any idea of how much the spa is - say the basic massage?

 

Any tips? What time should be arrive at port - bang on 4 or better to be a bit later. We are arriving a few days previously so flexible enough.

 

Many thanks,

 

David

 

PS glad you enjoyed the cruise. look forward to reading some reviews of it.

[Pavovsky]

If anyone wants to view 450 photos of this trip, click here:

 

http://photo2.walgreens.com/walgreens/share/p=53551302023160194/l=2326490002/g=12300861/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBFB

 

Yes, you'll have to register, but just uncheck the little box and you won't be sent anything in the mail.

 

Some amazing photos there. Looked like you both had a ball.

[JOBAKE]

Rita and Lou - have now had a chance to look at your photo gallery. Heroic effort on your part taking and putting up so many photos - good ones too, which should be helpful to potential passengers on the Royal Clipper

[JOBAKE]

To:- PAVOVSKY

 

As you can see Rita and Lou, and we returned a week ago from the 11 days BVI's trip. Great. You will almost certainly have the holiday of a lifetime on your trip - there is no other like it in the world.

 

Probably best to wait until you are on board and receive each day's programme (on the previous afternoon) and timings to see how much you can fit in. Not really a shopping holiday so, if you must, maybe try Bridgetown whilst you are in Barbados. Shopping aspect will be complicated with part of your trip being over Christmas. Drink prices on board are reasonable - compare good restaurant prices. As you are from Ireland (expensive) that should give you added "reasonableness" on drink prices. Bang on 4. is probably not the best time to arrive at the Port for check in. If you arrive at,say, 3.30 p.m. you will have half an hour to wait before check in commences but can meet some other early arrivers and have a chat with them. If you arrive at, say, 5.30 you can probably register and board immediately. If you are board earlier rather than later you will have a complimentary drink when you board and afternoon tea whilst waiting for your bags to be loaded and taken to your cabin. If you have any other specific questions I will try to help. How are you flying out - are you going through Gatwick? If so I would recommend staying at the airport overnight the night before you fly out.

[Pavovsky]

To:- PAVOVSKY

 

As you can see Rita and Lou, and we returned a week ago from the 11 days BVI's trip. Great. You will almost certainly have the holiday of a lifetime on your trip - there is no other like it in the world.

 

Probably best to wait until you are on board and receive each day's programme (on the previous afternoon) and timings to see how much you can fit in. Not really a shopping holiday so, if you must, maybe try Bridgetown whilst you are in Barbados. Shopping aspect will be complicated with part of your trip being over Christmas. Drink prices on board are reasonable - compare good restaurant prices. As you are from Ireland (expensive) that should give you added "reasonableness" on drink prices. Bang on 4. is probably not the best time to arrive at the Port for check in. If you arrive at,say, 3.30 p.m. you will have half an hour to wait before check in commences but can meet some other early arrivers and have a chat with them. If you arrive at, say, 5.30 you can probably register and board immediately. If you are board earlier rather than later you will have a complimentary drink when you board and afternoon tea whilst waiting for your bags to be loaded and taken to your cabin. If you have any other specific questions I will try to help. How are you flying out - are you going through Gatwick? If so I would recommend staying at the airport overnight the night before you fly out.

 

Thanks a mill for your reply. Thankfully drink prices (and accommodation) etc have come down significantly except in tourist traps so Dublin is starting to become reasonable. Shame the economy is so bad.

 

We are flying out via Gatwick. We have a connecting flight that morning from Dublin on Aer Lingus, which gives about 2.5 hours connection time, which should be ok all going well. I just hope the December 2010 weather won't repeat itself. We are going 2 days ahead of departure.

 

Sounds like going there for 3.30 might be a good idea.

[WeBeGone]

We arrived around 4:15 and there was a long line. Next time (and there WILL be a next time), we'll arrive later, maybe 5 or 6. That's plenty of time to get settled and have a pre dinner drink. We thought the drink prices were less than Key West (3.50e for a reg cocktail) and the house wines at 15e were just fine.

 

450 photos are here:

 

http://photo2.walgreens.com/walgreens/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=9330717002/a=12300861_12300861/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/

[BeachBumTexans]

Loved your thread, we just signed up for the Royal Clipper Windward trip on March 31, 2012. We are looking forward to WeBeGone's pictures.

 

We live in Fort Worth, Tx and will depart from DFW.

 

Thanks again, Yall.

 

Larry and Virginia

[BeachBumTexans]

We booked a trip on Royal Clipper for Windwards islands in March 2012. Quick question... what was the range of temperature and wind speeds outdoors? Did you need jackets. Thank you for your time and assistance. Larry and Virginia

[JOBAKE]

We have done the Windwards about 4 times on the Royal Clipper. Temperatures in the higher end of twenty to lower thirties celcius - say 25 - 32 degrees. As for windspeeds, you are in the Trade Winds. The winds, in knots, can vary from lightish in to, say, the middle twenties. Perhaps the most common would be in the range of ten to twenty knots. As for jackets they are not needed and the only reason I would take a light one would be in case I had the good fortune to be invited to the Captain's table on the Captain's dinner night. It has happened! Even then a jacket is not "required" and to cover the possibility that I might get "the invite" I usually take a tie - less room taken up in the suitcase. I have been on the Captain's table with "Jacket and Tie" and with just a "Tie". Either way you are not out of place. The Captain will be in his "whites".

[jcl410]

Larry & Virginia -

 

I brought a lightweight Goretex rain jacket with me. One of my favorite sports to hang out is on the exposed bridge.To me it got a little cool after dark on deck. The jacket was also useful for the occasional shower.

 

The Tropic Bar, which is outdoors, is more protected, and I didn't need my jacket there.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[JOBAKE]

Rita and Lou,

 

We have recently received the Starclippers Preview folder, which shows the dates of the sailings for the period January 2012 to April 2013. We understand that the full brochure is due out in the autumn. The preview shows, inter alia, the Star Flyer trips to the Baltic in the summer of 2012 - first time, I think, for the Clippers to go to that area. We are pondering a trip on the Star Flyer in the Baltic. Hope that you are keeping well and, no doubt, still working hard.

[WeBeGone]

Rita and Lou,

 

We have recently received the Starclippers Preview folder, which shows the dates of the sailings for the period January 2012 to April 2013. We understand that the full brochure is due out in the autumn. The preview shows, inter alia, the Star Flyer trips to the Baltic in the summer of 2012 - first time, I think, for the Clippers to go to that area. We are pondering a trip on the Star Flyer in the Baltic. Hope that you are keeping well and, no doubt, still working hard.

 

Hi - We haven't gotten ours yet but will be giving it a good look when we do. We cruised the Baltic 2 years ago aboard the Emerald Princess and the itinerary, weather, ports, everything was perfect. I can imagine how wonderful it would be on a Clipper ship. We're interested in sailing the Greek islands but right now are saving for our big 33 day "around South America" trip. Gotta book a lot of cruises to pay for that one. :D