Star Clippers

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Royal Clipper

Star Flyer

Star Clipper

Interesting experience - but you have to take the good with the bad

Tortola

I loved the idea of real sailing and always wanted to see the smaller ports in the Med, so when I saw that on reposition one could travel the entire width of the Med (Turkey to Caneries), I signed up for the whole 35 days. 

Even with the single supplement, the price was quite reasonable; the accommodations, food and service excellent. Sailing into the small ports was  as nostalgic and picturesque as I hoped. 

This is an active cruise. There are at least two flights of steep stairs, one often damp from the elements. Shore excursions are limited and require walking about 2 km. Most passengers just get off in port and walk throughout the town, so even the limited choice may see one option cancelled. Many ports are tender accessed, so transfer between a small bouncing lifeboat and smaller exposed platform is required: a feat when seas are not perfectly calm. There isn’t a lot of public space, most gathered around the bar to socialize. 

Weather on this trip was (not unexpected) occasionally bad. I wasn’t sea sick, but there were days I skipped meals because I didn’t feel safe getting to dining room / and there is no room service. 

However, most passengers had been on several trips. If you enjoy an active adventure on the sea, that lets you glimpse the history of travel with more than a touch of modern luxury, this line is for you.

Repositioning cruise - sailed the Med

My wife and I have always loved the "small ship" experience, and have no need to be entertained, so this was a perfect fit for us.   BUT, if you need nightly entertainment, want to dine alone at a table, don't like international crowds, (I would say 60% of the passangers NOT from the USA) or are prone to seasickness, this is NOT the cruise for you.    If you remember that this is first and formost a working SAILING ship you will be happy.

     For us, this particular voyage was perfect.  Small islands, small ports,sunny skys, and calm waters.  This was a "back to back" cruise, so we visited 12 ports in 15 days, hitting islands in Greece, Turkey, Italy and finishing in Malta.  Being the "end of the season"  we were the only ship in port every day, which meant few crowds and a very plesent experience.  One thing to note is that with one exception, we anchored in every port, which meant tendering in.  (NOT a pleasent expereince if you have any mobility issues)  

     Food was spectacular (Although the menu pretty much repeated the second week) Just be aware that it tends to cater to the european tastes, and that every table is set for eight, so you WILL get to know your fellow passangers.

Amazing experience... IF

Although I'm a veteran cruiser (more than 19 cruises at this point), this was my first experience on a Star Clippers ship.   Sailing on this type of a ship offers a unique cruise experience, and in my opinion has the following pros and cons:

PROS:

•	The Star Flyer has a passenger capacity of 170 max, but we had 155 on our sailing with all rooms occupied but one.   This low passenger count made for a more intimate cruising experience.

•	There were around 74 crewmembers onboard, so the crew-to-passenger ratio was quite high.    Granted, many of those crew members were deck hands or other technical crew, as this kind of a ship requires a lot of maintenance and physical work.

•	Watching the crew work the ropes and sails, and being able to personally interact with the Captain, Officers, and other crew in a very casual way was interesting.  They were always happy to answer questions and let guests interact when it was safe. There were even opportunities to climb the mast, rest on the bowsprit net, or even hold the ship’s helm (steering wheel).

•	Being on the top deck when all (or most) of the sails were up was really cool.    It’s truly a beautiful thing to see, and we got many looks (and photos snapped) from other ships/boats passing by.

•	There were times when the ship’s propellers were running at 0%, and the sails were providing 100% of the propulsion.   Although the ship always has a diesel generator running for the air conditioning, water processing, lights, etc. – when the ship is operating at full sails, it is using fewer fossil fuels.   This kind of ‘green energy’ may be appealing to those who are more eco-conscious.

•	Being on a small ship meant that we visited smaller, less popular (and less busy) ports – this was a huge selling point.    

•	The overall atmosphere on the ship was very casual - with the exception of dinner, which had a dress code and was a more formal affair.

•	For those who are interested, they offered complimentary snorkel gear, paddleboards, or other non-mechanized water sport equipment for use in certain ports. 

•	For those who prefer a mature crowd full of experienced travelers, this cruiseline may be appealing.  The vast majority of guests were in the 55-75 age range (there were only two who were under 50), over 50% of them were repeat-guests on a Star Clippers ship, and anecdotal evidence from conversations showed that many of them had already sailed in some of the more remote regions like the Galapagos and Antarctica.   

CONS:

•	Because of the nature and style of the ship, some of the comforts and conveniences frequent cruisers may expect were a bit lacking.   For example, the staterooms are all very small, and most of them are interior rooms with portholes.   I would also not characterize them as luxurious by any means – they’re basic, but functional, and storage is tight. 

•	There’s only one dining room on the ship.  Breakfast and lunch are buffets, and dinner is a formal sit-down meal.  Other than some afternoon hors d'oeuvres served in the outside bar, there’s no option to eat outside for any of the meals, for those who prefer that. (That's me, I would prefer to eat outside).

•	While I understand the reasoning, I'm not a fan of dress codes for dinner.  My husband doesn't want to pack pants just for some archaic dress code policy.  If Star Clippers wants to attract a younger crowd, they need to ditch the requirement for pants.  Perhaps just relax it to "dressy shorts are acceptable, but no swimwear". 

•	For those who prefer to have a drink package, there are none.  All alcoholic beverages and soft drinks have a fee.  The only beverages that were complimentary were water, juice, and coffee.    

•	For those who prefer to stay connected, there is no internet package.  The onboard satellite internet was charged by the hour, and is very spotty.   

•	For those who enjoy casinos or other full-scale entertainment, they are not offered.  Casual nightly entertainment was provided by a couple crew members - such as trivia, karaoke, dance contests, or talent shows. 

•	The ship is definitely not for anyone with mobility challenges, as there are a lot of hazards on the decks (ropes, low horizontal masts, stairs, etc.), there are many high doorway thresholds and swinging doors, and you have to disembark via a steep wobbly staircase onto tenders in almost every port.   On our cruise, we saw one guest and two crew members with injuries. 

•	On that same topic - some of the rooms have physical obstacles, as well, which could be a challenge.  Some rooms have beds that are on platforms 1 to 3 feet above the ground, or the top bunk is very close to the ceiling.   Some rooms have bathtubs with a long step down to the floor (some have about a foot to step down, and one is an astonishing 3 feet drop from the bathtub edge down to the floor).   Some rooms have low ceilings, or even multiple floor levels that a guest could step off of inadvertently.   The Star Clippers website does disclose some of these obstacles and ‘negative’ features, but not all of them.   And unfortunately, when you speak with a customer service agent in the call center, they don’t always give appropriate warnings, either.   Because Star Clippers’ cruises aren’t completely mainstream, there are few reviews online which offer insight into some of these challenges, so it’s more difficult to truly understand what surprises a stateroom may have.  

•	The specific port schedule isn’t published in advance, so guests don’t find out when they’ll be in each port until the night before.  This can make it a challenge to plan independent shore excursions, for those who may be interested in doing something other than the tours booked via the cruiseline.

•	Because of the shape of the hull and the size of the ship, the motion of the sea was felt more strongly than any ship I’ve been on.   Although many days on our sailing were calm and the ship had minimal movement, one day was quite rough - so this kind of a ship may not be a good choice for those who are subject to seasickness.   

Overall, we all enjoyed our cruise – but we agreed we’re not sure we would do it again.   In my opinion, this type of a cruise would be good for those who are intrigued by the art of sailing, or those who have done all the other types of cruising and are looking for something different, or those who are interested in sailing on a ship that uses ‘green energy’ for a portion of the time.   The low passenger count and ability to visit smaller ports is a selling point.  The ideal traveler would be active, curious, lacking any physical challenges to handle all the stairs and obstacles, unbothered by the lack of a casino or full-scale entertainment onboard, and able to overlook the lack of drinks/Wifi packages or certain creature comforts in the staterooms.

Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo

We really loved the sailing element of this Mediterranean cruise, and the feel of being on a small ship. The sails were up most of the time, although I’m not sure how much of our journey was carried out under pure sail rather than ‘motor-sailing’, because of course they do have to keep to schedule.

Star Flyer is a beautiful, elegant ship – lots of brass and varnished wood, and neatly coiled ropes – and seems to be carefully maintained.

Our cabin was compact (as expected), but very well designed, so we found a place for everything. The décor is nautical and beautiful, with lovely polished wood furniture. The bathroom also was surprisingly good considering its size. The shower was adequate and the hot water was consistent; and again, there was good stowage space for toiletries. Our cabin steward came twice each day while we were at breakfast and dinner, and provided a superb service – Everything was kept spotless, towels and toiletries replaced, and the bed turned back in the evening.

The public areas of the ship were also beautiful and kept in excellent condition by the crew. There is a ‘help yourself’ station for tea and coffee in the corner of the piano bar.  Bar and restaurant drinks seemed reasonably priced.

We did not go to any of the evening entertainment sessions, so I can’t comment on that. However we were impressed by the resident musician, who played at appropriate opportunities – for example, on our at-sea day when the ‘tropical buffet’ lunch was served in the Tropical Bar area – giving a lovely atmosphere.

The Cruise Director was visible, enthusiastic and interesting, and offered various talks and tours around the ship. (Copious written information about the ports to be visited the next day was also provided each evening with the daily programme – possibly excessive in amount!)

We also went to a talk on using the sextant by the navigation officer, a knot-tying session given by one of the sail crew, and a demonstration of folding towel animals by one of the cabin stewards!  The Chief Mate was happy to show us around the Bridge, which was interesting. For me, one of the highlights was taking the opportunity to climb up the mast to the crows’ nest on our at-sea day.

The cruise took us to some fascinating historic ports. We went on one organised shore excursion, and tried to book another but it was pulled because not enough people signed up. However, generally we would choose to explore on our own. 

The food – buffet breakfast (with live-cooking omelette station), buffet lunch and dinner – was excellent throughout. Wide range of choice, and all high-quality and beautifully presented.

I realise that everyone is different, and the social aspect of a cruise is a positive highlight for many people. However, my personal preference would be to have less enforced sociability at evening meals. As there are no tables for less than 6 people, and because everyone is summoned for dinner at the same time, we always had to sit with other guests at dinner and felt obliged to engage in conversation. This is no reflection on our fellow passengers – Everyone we met and sat with was very pleasant, and we did have some interesting conversations - It’s just that my personal preference on holidays is to eat my dinner quietly with my partner at a table for two!  

(This wasn’t a problem at breakfast or lunch as the times were much more flexible, so everyone didn’t come at once, and we usually managed to sit by ourselves at one of the six-seat tables.) 

We booked one night hotel stays pre- and post-cruise through Star Clippers UK, and both hotels were excellent. We also booked flights and transfers through Star Clippers, and all the arrangements ran smoothly.

The only negative comment I would make is that there was some confusion and ‘mixed messages’ about gratuities – There is a suggested amount to tip, and it is suggested that you add this to your final bill (which is what we had done on a previous cruise on Royal Clipper last year). However, the day before this cruise ended, envelopes appeared in our cabin marked for the steward and the waiters. So we thought we would put a cash tip in the envelope for our steward (who was the same throughout the cruise, and excellent) and add the tip for dining staff to the bill (because we had different people serving us each day, depending where we sat). However, we then saw that the information sheet for the final day (delivered the evening prior) said ‘please refrain from individual tipping’ … Well, if that’s the case, why give out the envelopes?! These mixed messages made the issue of tipping more stressful than it needed to be. In the end, we added it all to the bill.

Wonderful journey

Izmir

This was my 4th Star Clipper cruise and I knew the drill and what to expect. Had inside cabin 218 which is bunk bed and basically a closet but for one person I used the upper bunk as storage.  Be aware that here is not a whole lot of open deck space and may have trouble finding a chair especially in the shade. I always enjoy the food on Star Clipper and this was no exception.  They do a good job of seating you with others and they were all very welcoming to me.  We had a mix of UK, Germany, Scotland, and US which was a nice group of people and were told we had 130 on our cruise.  Had more wind, choppy seas and showers on this than all 3 of my past trips combined but luckily this did not affect our shore time.  Sadly it seems that time on shore gets less and less.  Guess that is on effect of using sails but other times we stopped in the morning to let excursion go out and by the time we got to afternoon stop only had a very short time to visit.  I still have issue that they do not have any island beer as Carib on board which seems strange to be in the Caribbean and offer Bud Light and a German Draft beer.  

When I got home I discovered I did not receive the $75 OBC I was supposed to receive.  I had my travel agent call and he was offered was I should book another cruise to receive the $75.  I called and the lady agreed it was on my documents and she would send it to Mark and he would call me back that day and I have never heard from him at all. This treatment causes me concern for a repeat customer and I am not sure if I will give them my business in the future.  If you have never been and want to experience a ship under sails you should try it  but if you are promised anything be sure to check your documents before you leave the ship.

No problem until I got home

The cruise was nice, ship was in great condition , staff was accommodating but the management has some strange ideas about customer service. 3 major problems occurred on our recent cruise which would prevent me from cruising with Star Clippers again.

First, there policy of confiscating passengers passports for the duration of the cruise is incredible in this day and age. It makes life easy for the cruise line but is a burden and risk that should not be foisted on passengers, particiularly since the first one hears about this is after the cancellation date has passed, so one is faced with the choice to cancel and lose a significant deposit or to have their passport taken away and not returned until the end of the cruise. We would have like to take a ferry from st kitts to nevis but had no documents to permit this so the cruise line holds you 'hostage' to their itinerary and excursions. Terrible customer focus! 

Their billing practices are also problematic and even suspect.  Our initial bill was wrong: it included significant overcharges at the bar ( we are not drinkers and we were charged for 2 bottles of wine). When I asked this be corrected I was given a particularly unwelcome cross examination and when they learned they were wrong no apology was offered and they refused to re-issue a corrected bill. Again, terrible customer service.

Finally, the cabin air unit was VERY loud, well over 100 decibels and made it difficult, and some nights impossible to sleep. After a week of this OI was truly sleep deprived and was happy to end the cruise.

It's too bad, because the ship is beautiful, the route was excellent, the food was quite good, but some of the policies need to be re-examined with a better eye towards focusing on the passenger and not what is convenient for the cruise line. When I raised these issues with the purser, she seemed that she didn't care at all and couldn't be bothered. Again, more lack of customer focus.

We will be investing our vacation dollars elsewhere in future and I suggest you be aware of these policies before making your travel choice.

Good cruise but some significant drawbacks

Just returned from a back-to-back two weeks on the Star Flyer, Leeward and Treasure Islands.

 Absolutely wonderful experience we have come to expect from Star Clipper. Ship absolutely beautiful, crew amazing, food top class. Wonderful guests on board.

Monya our cruise director was warm, friendly but most importantly knowledgeable and efficient. Wonderful home-spun entertainment each evening led by Monya along with Sandra and Max the sports team. 

Different evening entertainment each week. First week 140 passengers onboard, including a film crew and small party of travel agents, second week 120 onboard.  Loved all the islands, which we had visited before but not on this ship. 

Excursions were all good value for many and great fun. Highly recommend. Can't wait for the next one. Nothing beats sitting up on the sun deck for sailaway or later in the evening with a drink in hand and the sails billowing in the breeze.

Another fantastic Star Clipper experience

Ibiza

Having sailed once before in the Caribbean with Star Flyer we decided on taking it across the Atlantic.   The 23 day crossing was a combination of Malaga, Spain to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (9 days) and Las Palmas to Barbados (14 days).  Due to popularity it was over a year from booking to sailing.  Cabin 121.  80% of passengers are repeat.

  We arrived in Malaga 4 days before the cruise, allowing time to adjust from the west coast of the US.   Our hotel was a few blocks from the harbor and we were able to walk to the boat rolling our bags.  check in was at 4 but you could store your bags at the pier starting at 12 noon.

  The first 9 days we took 2 tours, bus to Marrakesh from Safi and tour of Lanzarote.  Tour to Marrakesh was disappointing, tour guide wanted to make sure we shopped "his store" (for a kick back?) so all else was rushed to get to his shops.  Lanzarote tour to volcano park was much better.

  Seas were rough two days especially the Safi to Lanzarote day at sea; this is normal.  Also quite chilly needed a sweatshirt and a wind breaker.  Meals were good;  breakfast and lunch are a buffet,  dinner is a menu, all meals are open seating.  No formal wear required.

  The 14 day trip started in Las Palmas, the Canary Islands.  Some passengers left here others boarded.  No shore excursion is offered, but town is an easy walk from the pier; there is also a multi story shopping mall next to the dock area.  139 passengers made the crossing.

  Every day it got warmer, seas were rough (15-20 ft swells) at La Gomera and the port was dropped as the pilot could not board.  95% of the cruise was under sail, a record for the captain.  To sit and watch the sails in the wind a fantastic experience.

 We saw whales, dolphins and lots of rainbows. Had an oil rig towed passed us in the middle of the Atlantic.  On board entertainment consists of the piano player/singer; passengers playing darts, board games and cards.  There is a  talent show, toga party, pirate night and Neptune party.    When you have the night sky full of stars, the ocean waves ever changing during the day the entertainment takes a back seat to mother nature.

  Would we do it again?  YES, YES, YES.

West bound Atlantic Crossing

We chose a repositioning itinerary that took us from Malta to Malaga, stopping in Sardinia, the Balearics, and along the Spanish Coast.  Previous cruises had set our expectations.   Star Clipper is a small line with three small ships that use sail frequently.  Frequent stops in European ports insured that the food stocks were excellent.   As a repositioning cruise, the opportunities for water sports were limited, perhaps as a consequence the average age of the passengers was a bit higher.

Weather was an issue on our two sea days with 4 to 5 meter swells and winds gusting to 40. (Force 7).  The crew handled the conditions well and maintained service and safety.  

The key to enjoying Star Clipper is to understand and cherish the scale and limitations of a 300 foot sailing vessel.  Sailing into and out of historical ports,  feeling the motion of the sea, and finding entertainment in your fellow passengers are features of the experience.

The Cruise Director, Yuri and Musician Melchor maintained a steady stream of amusements. The hotel staff was cheerful and unobtrusive.  The menus were varied and preparation and presentation were excellent.   

For this voyage we were dockside in every port.  We used excursions in every port as we didn't know the areas.    We arrived in Valetta a week early and loved Malta!  Really could have been there longer. Malta has something to appeal to almost every variety of tourist.  Caligiari was a bit bland, but the sea front ruins excellent.   All three of the Balearics were fine, varied and attractive.   Cartegena was a pleasant surprise.   A lot of new archeology finds and a revitalized downtown will make this much better known and more visited.   Motril is really only a way to get close to Grenada and run up the canyon to see the Alhambra. Worth it for the path up and Grenada.  Malaga in late October was uncrowded and pretty.

Great Small Ship Experience - Third Time with Star Clippers.

We had never cruised previously because we did not like the idea of a floating city, so the smaller tall ship made sense, especially when it had a cruise that included our bucket list of places to see in Greece.

We did our research and  knew what to expect, and the Star Flyer exceeded in most regards, especially the food! 

If tons of activity and entertainment is your goal, this isn't your best bet.  If peaceful evenings on deck with no sounds but the wind thru the sales, and an intimate, yet casual setting for meals is what you like, this is for you.

The group on board is small enough that mutual respect wins out over fighting for the best deck chairs or tables at dinner.  The majority seemed to be seasoned travelers that know how to act in this setting and very friendly when sharing a table or space at the bar. 

So nice when the cruise director can address EVERYONE at the same time regarding excursions and ship-board fun.

I don't think we'll ever take a trip on a large mega-ship!  This setting was too perfect for us

We chose a tall ship for our first cruise ever, and glad we did

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