Not live from The Royal Clipper

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

In NYC right now and heading to Barbados today to get on The Royal Clipper tomorrow. Post questions and I’ll try to get answers. We won’t have much internet but will try stay in touch. 

[SUBWAYMIKE]

We are also flying from JFK next week to Barbados next week and any comments about the ship or ports will be appreciated.

Subwaymike

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Random thoughts from being on the ship for a couple of days:

 

There isn’t much to do AT ALL on the ship. But that’s a good thing!  It’s to relax. But bring things to read and do. 
 

The ship rocks A LOT when sailing at night. We love it but be prepared. If you get sea sick bring stuff for that. 

 

You pay for every drink including sodas and bottled water. Although the prices are reasonable. There is a water station where you can fill up your own. 

 

The key card is only used to unlock your door or get on/off the ship. They just ask room number when you order something. 

 

There is PLENTY of food. There isn’t a 24 hour buffet but they feed you 6 times a day if you want, including mid afternoon and late night snacks. 

 

Internet is bad.  It’s nice to get away so don’t expect to always be connected. It cost 18 Euros for 4 hours. Make sure you log off when not using. 

 

The first night they seat people with like languages together to “force mingle” but after that you can sit whomever you want including just two of you. Breakfast and lunch is seat yourself. 

 

They take your passports as the beginning of the cruise. You are without it until you disembark at the end.  

 

Be up on deck for the first night unfurling of the sails. If you are new to the Royal Clipper, it is amazing. 

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

[JeanKC]

Hi 

 

We are doing the Royal Clipper Grenadines trip leaving Barbados on Feb 25th so great to hear from someone on the boat right now! It's very helpful to know about the movement of the boat as I was 50/50 on whether to get something for motion-sickness. I'm usually fine, but based on your comments, I'm going to pick something up, to be on the safe-side (be a shame to spend our once in a lifetime trip throwing up over the side of the boat 😂).

 

I'm trying to come up with some kind of budget for the trip so would be interested to know how reasonable the drinks prices are. This is the most recent post that I can find with prices for Starclipper cruises in general: Star Clippers Drinks Package: What Do Drinks Cost? – Sand In My Suitcase but it would be great to hear from someone if these were still broadly accurate.

 

Also, I would love to hear about any activities you would recommend at the stops and how easy it is to just explore (without booking an organised excursion). Of course, if you do end up doing any amazing excursion that was definitely worth the money, I would love to hear about that too. 

 

Finally, if you could give any advice around the best currency from your experience - I know that the Barbados Dollar and East Carribean Dollar are pegged against the US dollar but would you recommend getting some local currency, or will be okay with just USD?  We will be spending a week in Barbados after so will probably get some of those but for the cruise, most of the stops are ECD so I'm wondering if it is worth our while trying to order those too. To be honest, the most I will probably buy at any of the stops is a fridge magnet!!

 

Apologies for all the questions

 

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

Jean

[Denarius]

In my experience the US Dollar is accepted on most Caribbean islands, but you may receive your change in the local currency. Exceptions are the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe where the currency is the Euro and other currencies are often not accepted.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I’m excited to answer your questions but since you sailing in 2 months I’ll do it when I get back. I’ll also have better answers for all ports after the cruise!

 

Bring ‘em on!

[JeanKC]

14 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I’m excited to answer your questions but since you sailing in 2 months I’ll do it when I get back. I’ll also have better answers for all ports after the cruise!

 

Bring ‘em on!

That's super, thank you. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to ask. Enjoy your trip. 

[JeanKC]

15 hours ago, Denarius said:

In my experience the US Dollar is accepted on most Caribbean islands, but you may receive your change in the local currency. Exceptions are the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe where the currency is the Euro and other currencies are often not accepted.

Thank you - that's very helpful. I'm coming from the Eurozone so Martinique is not an issue as I will have euros or if I have take Euros out there, I can just use them at home.

[Denarius]

19 hours ago, Denarius said:

In my experience the US Dollar is accepted on most Caribbean islands, but you may receive your change in the local currency. Exceptions are the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe where the currency is the Euro and other currencies are often not accepted.

I should have added that on some islands goods in tourist orientated shops and drinks in bars may be priced in US dollars rather than the local currency. If priced in dollars and the local currency is also a dollar, make sure that you are clear which dollar. A US$ is worth much more than a EC$.

[SUBWAYMIKE]

Does anyone know what kind of electrical outlets are in the cabins?

Mike

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I took a picture. Hopefully it will load. 

[SUBWAYMIKE]

Thanks for the photo. We brought several euro plug adapters.

Arrived in Barbados at 5:30 this morning and took a nice nap.

Mike

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We just wrapped up a beautiful day in St. Lucia and are heading back to you now!

[TheTwinsMom]

Thank you for this post. We are going on our first Star Clippers cruise in a few weeks and your information is very helpful. I am looking forward to your thoughts on shore excursions and budgeting after your trip. Thank you for posting!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

20 hours ago, TheTwinsMom said:

Thank you for this post. We are going on our first Star Clippers cruise in a few weeks and your information is very helpful. I am looking forward to your thoughts on shore excursions and budgeting after your trip. Thank you for posting!

 

I do plan to do a larger write up this weekend but can answer this.  I'll give you my experience since I've only be on one cruise with this line on the Royal Clipper.  Not sure what ship you are on.

 

First of all there are not many excursions in each port as there are with the "big ships".  The cruise line is proud to say that they can reach into ports that the big ships can't.  But that also means there isn't much to do in these ports!  Again, not a bad thing but this cruise is MUCH more relaxed and we weren't running all around.  Some ports have 2 excursions and others may have 3-5.  But that's it!  

 

And the experience is VERY low tech.  There are binders on a desk for each port with a piece of paper and you sign your name.  That's it!  Then you get "tickets" in your cabin the day before.  Funny thing is that you never show your tickets to anyone.  They have a list of those signed up and they check you off.  Not sure what the point of the ticket is!  🙂

 

They are very low key excursions.  We were never in port for more than a few hours as they did two ports every day. Some were just beaches where you could go ashore and swim or snorkel.  We only did a couple of them and they were either catamaran snorkeling or a "taste of" for the location.  A lot of people just stay on the ship and relax.  And on the ship they have the marina platform where you can swim or use the paddle board and such.

 

If you give me your exact cruise, I can give you more information on any ports that overlapped.  I also have all the activities sheets that I'll scan if I get energetic.

[TheTwinsMom]

Thank you Sox Fan. We are on the Royal Clipper. I will paste our itinerary below. 

 

I have one quick question: 

1) How cold and windy was it on deck at night? I've often found that I can't stand out of deck of a cruise ship because of the wind. (Partially because I get cold and partially because my hair assaults me as it blows around. LOL)

 

When you do your longer write up could you talk about your experience with these:

1) They mention "classes." In general, what type of classes do they have and are they part of the daily activities or for a fee (like an excursion). 

2) I managed to find a print out of a alcohol price list online. It was showing very reasonable prices for alcoholic beverages ($3.50 for wine, $5-6 for mixed drinks) Is this still accurate?

3) Do they have a coffee bar? Are those prices reasonable too? 

4) We love to make new friends on a cruise. We also like to play games. I know they have a library with games. Are there a lot? Are people social? or wanting to be alone? I'm thinking of bringing Five Crowns and possibly some other games.

5) What type of shoes do men wear? Are tennis shoes ok? Teva's? Or should we go with boat shoes? Really don't want to drag dress shoes along with us. 

6) I read that you can purchase 4 hours of internet for $18 euro. But they also mention it working in one room. So is this wi-fi (which will work with our phones) or is it cabled (and we'd need a laptop)?

 

I chatted with SC yesterday and they sent me the docs. So I have the list of excursions. I haven't had time to look at them yet. That is on today's list. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on these and whether it is an issue with them filling up. 

 

Again, thank you so much for your post. This post got bigger than I expected. I totally understand if you don't want to answer everything. This is a special "dream" trip for my husband's 60th birthday. I'm generally on top of planning things but we have had a tough couple of months and it has gotten away from us. I really appreciate your time.

 

This is our itinerary:

Bridgetown, Barbados 

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia 

Cabrits, Dominica 

Falmouth Harbour, Antigua 

Basseterre, St. Kitts 

Beach Stop, St. Kitts 

Terre-de-Haut, Iles des Saintes 

Beach Stop, Martinique 

Bridgetown, Barbados   

[Denarius]

1 hour ago, TheTwinsMom said:

Thank you Sox Fan. We are on the Royal Clipper. I will paste our itinerary below. 

 

I have one quick question: 

1) How cold and windy was it on deck at night? I've often found that I can't stand out of deck of a cruise ship because of the wind. (Partially because I get cold and partially because my hair assaults me as it blows around. LOL)

 

When you do your longer write up could you talk about your experience with these:

1) They mention "classes." In general, what type of classes do they have and are they part of the daily activities or for a fee (like an excursion). 

2) I managed to find a print out of a alcohol price list online. It was showing very reasonable prices for alcoholic beverages ($3.50 for wine, $5-6 for mixed drinks) Is this still accurate?

3) Do they have a coffee bar? Are those prices reasonable too? 

4) We love to make new friends on a cruise. We also like to play games. I know they have a library with games. Are there a lot? Are people social? or wanting to be alone? I'm thinking of bringing Five Crowns and possibly some other games.

5) What type of shoes do men wear? Are tennis shoes ok? Teva's? Or should we go with boat shoes? Really don't want to drag dress shoes along with us. 

6) I read that you can purchase 4 hours of internet for $18 euro. But they also mention it working in one room. So is this wi-fi (which will work with our phones) or is it cabled (and we'd need a laptop)?

 

I chatted with SC yesterday and they sent me the docs. So I have the list of excursions. I haven't had time to look at them yet. That is on today's list. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on these and whether it is an issue with them filling up. 

 

Again, thank you so much for your post. This post got bigger than I expected. I totally understand if you don't want to answer everything. This is a special "dream" trip for my husband's 60th birthday. I'm generally on top of planning things but we have had a tough couple of months and it has gotten away from us. I really appreciate your time.

 

This is our itinerary:

Bridgetown, Barbados 

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia 

Cabrits, Dominica 

Falmouth Harbour, Antigua 

Basseterre, St. Kitts 

Beach Stop, St. Kitts 

Terre-de-Haut, Iles des Saintes 

Beach Stop, Martinique 

Bridgetown, Barbados   

Based on several Star Clippers voyages, most recently in June 2022.

1) Classes are usually things like Yoga and aerobics, and tend to take place early morning in the tropical bar or on deck. There is no charge.

2)Drink prices are very reasonable  - much less than many of the big crise lines.

3) No coffee bar as such but self service filter coffee is available 24 hours a day in the Piano Bar. No charge. I think coffee is also available from the bars but there may be a charge for it; can't say as I've never ordered it!

4)People are very sociable and tend to congregate in the bars after dinner.

5) Any shoes ok during the day. Sandals are frowned upon at dinner.

6) never used but believe that it is very slow.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Denarius

[TheTwinsMom]

I've been asking a few questions to SC in their chat box. Thought others might find this helpful: 

WI-FI is available for purchased while onboard
60 minutes of time for: €6euros  or
240 minutes of time for: €18euros
 

To get access - just open your browser and follow the instructions. Internet at sea is provided by satellite service and is not as fast as on-land connections. You will not be able to use YouTube, or Netflix, Zoom as this hogs bandwidth.

We recommend you download WHATSAPP and communicate via text/SMS
 

There's two computers onboard in case you left yours behind

If you need STRONG WI-FI 24/7 for work or school and plan on using ZOOM, WEBEX, or Microsoft Team - Please contact:
SOLIS:     https://soliswifi.co/
or
GLOCAL:    https://www.glocalme.com/US/rent-wifi
or
AIRALO:   https://www.airalo.com/

[robbie21]

To answer the question of evening on deck temps and wind -Its the tropics evening temps are generally in the 70's, sometimes low 80's.  Usually the ship is under sail in the evenings hence you are going mostly downwind with negligible apparent wind.  We always take a stroll around the deck after dinner often with a drink in hand.  Note also that the bar, although covered, is open to the elements on both sides.

 

Enjoy

[Denarius]

20 minutes ago, robbie21 said:

To answer the question of evening on deck temps and wind -Its the tropics evening temps are generally in the 70's, sometimes low 80's.  Usually the ship is under sail in the evenings hence you are going mostly downwind with negligible apparent wind.  We always take a stroll around the deck after dinner often with a drink in hand.  Note also that the bar, although covered, is open to the elements on both sides.

 

Enjoy

The bar referred to is the Tropical Bar. The adjacent Piano Bar is inside the ship.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I promise, I will answer all your questions tomorrow. But one thing I have to get off my chest is that the coffee everywhere is horrible!  We were having coffee delivered to our room every morning thinking maybe that would be better and individually made.  We changed to tea after day two. Every cup of coffee was undrinkable. 

 

In fact, and I know this is subjective, but the food on the ship was really bad. I ate salad for lunch every day. I will not cruise with them again because the food was so bad. BUT, I don’t regret the cruise at all. It was magical. But the food was forgettable. 
 

I’m sorry to say this when you have an upcoming cruise. The cruise is still great. 

[TheTwinsMom]

15 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I promise, I will answer all your questions tomorrow. But one thing I have to get off my chest is that the coffee everywhere is horrible!  We were having coffee delivered to our room every morning thinking maybe that would be better and individually made.  We changed to tea after day two. Every cup of coffee was undrinkable. 

 

In fact, and I know this is subjective, but the food on the ship was really bad. I ate salad for lunch every day. I will not cruise with them again because the food was so bad. BUT, I don’t regret the cruise at all. It was magical. But the food was forgettable. 
 

I’m sorry to say this when you have an upcoming cruise. The cruise is still great. 

Sox, no worries. I appreciate all your thoughts good or bad. I love to have input. But I learned a long time ago that everyone has different likes and dislikes. It won't put me off. I can use a few more salads in my life. LOL I will do my best to post when I get back and give everyone else who reads this in the future a second data point. Again, thank you for your time. Here's another quick question: did you really need bug spray? 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Okay, so I'm caught up with life and sitting here watching football.  So what better time to run through my thoughts on the cruise.  And as TheTwinsMom said, these are just my opinions or observations so if you are reading this, please don't let it affect your sailing.

 

And that word is the #1 most amazing thing about a Royal Clipper cruise, it truly is a sailing.  It is magical to be on the ship at night and have the sails up and being on the water.  There are no water slides or casinos or stage shows.  It's all about being on the water.  

 

So much so, that the ship rocks A LOT at night.  There are handle bars in the shower for a reason!!  And they have boards you can raise on the side of the bed so you don't fall out.  And people used them!  There are no stabilizers and you feed the waves.

 

Let's go to the questions:  

 

• Drink prices are VERY reasonable.  $12 for two martinis.  $3.50 for a beer.  $20-$25 for a bottle of wine.  But they do charge for sodas and water as well.  Not expensive, but nothing is "free".  There is a "water fountain" (bubbler if you from certain parts of the country) that you can fill up your empty water bottles from so I guess you could use that.  But there also isn't the heavy pressure to drink alcohol throughout the day like on the "big ships".  The bar is open but no one is going around taking drink orders.  We never even started drinking each day until our pre-dinner cocktails.  There were some people drinking all day but it wasn't the vibe.
• I would not say that there were any excursions that were exceptional.  In fact they were more disappointing than fun.  There are only a few to choose from.  And the ports aren't very exciting either.  We hardly went ashore and most of the people that did, came back saying that there wasn't much there.  They say that this ship can go to places that the "big ships" can't.  My response is that there is a reason that the ships don't come here and it's more than the depth of the harbor!  🙂  They also aren't in port very long.  We did two stops most days with the afternoon being a beach stop.  They anchor in a small harbor and tender people to a small beach for swimming and snorkeling.  A lot of people just stay on the ship and relax.  But yes, it's very easy to go ashore and walk around on your own.  As other people have said, the times are very flexible.  Travel is based on the wind and it make take longer to arrive in port.
• Some people had ECD but USD was accepted everywhere and you can always use credit cards.  
• As someone stated, Internet is 18 Euros for 4 hours.  Honestly, I didn't use all 4 hours because it was too slow to use for much of anything and it was nice to disconnect.
• We never needed bug spray nor did anyone else that I spoke to.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

{breaking this up so I don't lose it}

 

• It is definitely windy up on deck at night when we are sailing.  Maybe a little cool too so bring a light sweater.  But honestly, other than the first night because it was New Years Eve, there is nothing going on up on deck at night.  A few times we thought the event they were holding in the tropical bar would have been better up on deck.  We would go up there and walk around but we were the only ones.  I think there could be spots that are less windy than others.
• We didn't find the "classes until the second to last day of the cruise.  In the tropical bar there is white board with some things to do.  They had a knot tying exhibition but there were two people who attending.

 

To step away from the specific questions for a second...  We felt that they act like all the passengers are returning guests.  And there are a lot of them that are.  The cruise director doesn't really provide ANY information to the passengers about anything going on.   The daily newsletter is 1 page and doesn't really explain anything.  We didn't know about the classes.  We had no idea how dinner worked.  We had no idea about the ports and what were beach stops and what were actual towns. We learned to just go with the flow, so just be aware.

 

•  With only 200 passengers, everyone knew each other by the end of the cruise.  As with any other group setting, some folks are friendlier than others.  But for the most part, everyone gets pretty chummy as the week goes on.  As I've said a few times before, there really isn't much to do.  No one hangs out in the library and I barely saw anyone even sitting in the piano bar.  Most people are up on deck during the day and in the Tropical Bar at night.  In fact there is only one event each night that starts at 10pm in the Tropical Bar.  So if you want to be social, you only have one thing to do to do so.  But it does make for forced socialization and so everyone is doing things together.  

 

Another side note...  Everything is presented in three languages; English, German and French.  The daily newsletter is in all 3 languages, the safety video is in 3 languages and every announcement is 3 in languages.  And there are more passenger languages as well.  Beside those three we heard Italian, Russian and a few others we couldn't recognize.  For someone learning German, it was great chance for me to practice!!  Early in the cruise, folks with like languages tended to bunch together especially at meal times, but as the week progressed, folks started to mingle a lot more.

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Back to more questions:

 

• During the day, I wore flip flops.  And I HATE wearing flip flops.  No need to ever even wear sneakers on the boat.  I only would put on sneakers to go ashore.  I did pack dress shoes for dinner but I bet you could wear sneakers (not flip flops).  You do need closed toe sneakers for climbing the mast or taking one of the tours of the ship.  Dressing for dinner is a lot more relaxed.  I wore short sleeve polos for dinner.  

 

(I guess that was it for questions)

 

I know I commented on the food already but you will definitely not go hungry on this cruise! 

 

• Breakfast is usually around 7:30 - 9:30 but there is a continental breakfast in the Piano bar starting at 6am.  It has some pastries, tea and coffee for those early risers.  The breakfast buffet is huge and has a lot of offerings.  They have typical American food such as pancakes and sausage and eggs.  But there is also many more selections include pastries and cheese and a cold fish dish and yogurt and fruit and and bunch of add ons.  I usually stuck with yoghurt with fruit, honey and nuts.
• Lunch is from noon to 2pm with a different theme each day (Italian, Mediterranean, Oriental (?!!?!) for example.  There are many different hot and cold dishes in accordance with the theme but then some other non theme items for a variety.  And there was always lettuce and salad fixings with a few dressings to choose from.
• Then there was "Afternoon Snack" from 5-6pm in the Tropical Bar.  They would set up a couple of tables and have a soup, some sandwiches, maybe something like a pasta dish plus fruit as well as cookies and brownies.
• Dinner started at 7:30 (which would cause heart palpitations for some "big ship" cruisers 🙂 ) but you didn't have to go then.  It lasted until 10pm so we would go for cocktails at 7:30 and then hit the dinning room around 8:30.  It was typical restaurant fare with a fish dish, steak, vegetarian, and one more.  Appetizers were also the normal items and there would be a couple of desserts plus salad (after dinner) and cheese plate.  They had examples of the entrees out for display in the piano bar so you could see them before you went down for dinner.

 

Any other questions, i would be glad to answer.