Star Flyer

[spot on the map]

We are looking to sail for the first time on the Star Flyer. The cabin of choice is a Cat.1 on the sun deck. Can anyone with any experience on this ship give us some insight as to the level of privacy with that class of cabin, the cabin door opening to a public area and all? Question #2; has anyone taken the Far East Itinerary and willing to discuss it with us.

[biglagoon]

We are looking to sail for the first time on the Star Flyer. The cabin of choice is a Cat.1 on the sun deck. Can anyone with any experience on this ship give us some insight as to the level of privacy with that class of cabin, the cabin door opening to a public area and all? Question #2; has anyone taken the Far East Itinerary and willing to discuss it with us.

We have sailed on the Star Clipper which is the same as the Star Flyer.

Our opinion is that there is very little privacy in a Cat. 1 cabin on the sun deck. People walk back and forth in front of the door and window all the time. Also, we noticed that people in those cabins had to keep the curtain closed all the time, if not, people walking by would stare in at them.

Also, during a rain storm, you have to go out on deck to get to dining room or piano bar.

We met a couple last year in a Cat. 1 cabin who said they made a mistake in booking that cabin cat.

These cabins, in our opinion, are not enough bigger, to overcome the lack of privacy.

So, for us, they are not good, becasue of the lack of privacy. Our favorite cabin is a well placed cat. 4 cabin on the Commodore deck.

Sorry, we cannot comment on the Far East Itinerary.

We intend to sail on the Star Flyer on her Indian Ocean crossing next year, the March crossing.

Hope this helps a little.

Kathy

[spot on the map]

Kathy,

Thank you oh so much for that insight. We were conserned that the curtins may have to remain closed hopping that was not the case but the rain issue was not one we had considered and is a note worthy point. I do think it is time to reconsider our cabin choice. Any thoughts on the Owner Suite?

[pralientje]

Contrary to big lagoon's reply we really enjoyed having a category 1 cabin. Each afternoon we just went to our cabin, leave the door open, so you could see/hear the water and wind and read a book. In the beginning of the cruise people will stare into your cabin, but once they have seen it, they will just walk by. In the afternoon the cabin steward brings you a small tray with sweets, very fresh and very nice. Going to the dining room is no problem since you are not walking in the open. The upper deck is over your head. Walking in the open is only the case if you have one of the two cabins on the stern sun deck (cabin number 533 and 532). I personally prefer the category 1 cabins the owner suite. This cabin has only portholes, no window. The windows in the cat. 1 cabins are covered with blinds you can see through from the inside but not from the outside. Be aware though that when it is dark and the lights are on, you should close your curtains. Hope this info will help. Pralientje

[spot on the map]

Pralientje, we would like to thank you for your reply to our question of the Cat.1 cabin on the SF. May I ask what itinerary you sailed on and how long ago? Back to the cabin issue, our thoughts of the Cat 1 were to give the illusion of have more space available to us, leaving the cabin door open and having the sun deck as our not so private balcony. We have cruised (not sailed) on the more conventional ships of Princess, NCL, Radisson, and with our kids on Carnival. We always had at minimum of a mini suite but more often an owner’s suite to so we would have the big balcony for our chill time. Our hopes are to utilize the sun deck as said same but with the availability of some interesting (optimistically speaking) conversation with fellow guest or crew. We would be interested in your feed back on this scenario.

[pralientje]

Spot on the map, let's start with our first cruise. This was on the Royal Clipper in January 2002, Caribean, two weeks. We had a Deluxe suite, cabin number 313, in case you have a brochure. You could also look the deck plan up on the web site. This cabin had its own balcony. Loved it so much, that when we returned home (Netherlands) we decided to take the Indian Ocean crossing starting then in Rome ending in Phuket. Met some wonderful people, the cruise itself was not so good since I experienced a lot of difficulty with my gluten free diet. Also the Flyer needed to go into drydock and was very slow, due to lack of wind, wrong currents and a lot of barnacles. We called it the slow flyer at the time. Ports of call were very interesting and from what I have heard from friends who have done this trip again, the company learned from that experience. We skipped 2003 and then did the transatlantic crossing from Cannes to Sint Maarten in October/November. Fell in love again. We sailed and sailed and sailed. This was partially due to the hurricane season. Normally the Clipper sails to the south to pick up the trade winds, but this time we stayed a lot higher and had fantastic sailing weather. We started of in cabin number 509 and knew beforehand that we had to change in Sint Maarten to another cabin. So we ended up in cabin 508 for our week sailing out of Sint Maarten. In 2005 I did the transatlantic on my own, since my husband could not find the time. Again enjoyed it very much. You get to know the crew and some of the passengers quit well, since a lot of the passengers are repeaters as well. This time I did have cabin 116, a category three cabin. But being single meant that I had to pay 50% extra. So a category three was good enough for me. Still a very nice cabin, midship, so very comfortable. This year I did not have the intention to go, since we are of to New Zealand in March to do a cruise on the Discovery, travelling from Auckland to Nassau on the Bahama's and will last 54 days. But then again, I had to do the crossing, so I told myself. And indeed I have made the reservation and again I am going on my own. My husband is taking care of the dogs and the house and the cleaning lady will take care of his washing and the house. Period. This time I have booked a single guarantee cabin, so I do not know cabin number. I will find out in Cannes. Since the Clipper is doing a totally different itinerary this year, I have no idea about the ports of call. Some a do know from previous experience, but a lot I have no knowledge about. Wait and see. I know from at least four passengers that they will do the transatlantic again, so familiair faces will be there. If you do the Indian ocean crossing do not forget to take a fleece jacket or warm sweater. The first week and a half of our trip it was very cold and the sloop shop sold a lot of warm sweaters, since nobody expected that kind of weather. One day we will do the Indian ocean crossing starting in Phuket and probably leaving in Egypt. since most ports of call in Europe we have already been to.

If you decide to take another category I would not take the owner suite. It is quit dark and the sun chair on the sun deck are on top of your cabin. The cabins cat. I on the sun deck do not have my preference as well, since the double bed is placed in the corner and the ceiling is quit low.

Another cabin we had was 329, a category two, but to my surprise cabin 331 (next to it) has the same size, but you have to take two steps in the corridor to reach those cabins.

If you have any more questions, please ask and I try to answer them.

If you go, enjoy your trip, since there are not that many passengers, you get to know most of them. It is a mix of Europeans, Canadians, Americans and Australians. Quit a melting pot. Happy sailings, Pralientje:cool:

[dvswar]

My wife and I sailed the Star Flyer last summer (Easter Med.). We chose category 2 cabins because we learned all the cat. 1 cabins open to the main deck. Those aft opened directly to a pool area. We went with cat. 2 and cabin 306, which was great. In fact, we're sailing Cannes to Lisbon in October on the Star Clipper.

[skidays]

Hello Spot on the Map, We sailed on the Star Flyer last November on her Far East itinerary. It was our first experience on a sailing vessel. We had a wonderful experience and would be happy to answer any questions you might have. We are already booked for a trip this coming December for a Royal Clipper sailing to the Grenadines.