Star Clippers cruises

[DaveNV]

Has anybody ever sailed on a Star Clippers ship? Where did you travel? What was your cruise experience like?

Dave

 

[Sandy VDH]

Star Clippers has 3 ships, 2 that are exactly the same (Clipper and Flyer) and the Royal which is about 50% bigger.

They are a tall sailing ship, and unlike some of their other competitors they are not automated, like Wind Star or Club Med cruises. They do have some great itineraries, as they are smaller ships they can get into places that can't handle the bigger cruise lines.

They have a larger number of repeat customers, and offer good deals to them. They also do a lot of lecture series. They do have a heavy European mix, their announcements are often in 5 languages.

When I went on it about 10 years ago, I was on the Star Flyer (I think but I'd have to go back and look) I did from Mexico down to Roatan. I found the cabins good, the food mixed (at best, they are are trying to be too many things to too many people and it just makes for a bit of failure), I enjoyed the uniqueness of a smaller sailing vessel, and the people were interesting. I did find there were a lot of European smokers. Don't know how much that is changed.

I went solo on an indepenent FAM trip to try it out. I moon-light as a travel agent, and have been for over 25 years now.

 

[DaveNV]

Thanks, Sandy. I've wanted to sail on their ships for years. It harkens back to my sailor's roots.

A few weeks ago I was exploring new vacationing options, and visited their website. I discovered they were having a Sailaway Gveaway contest, giving away a cruise on one of their ships. I wonder if anyone else entered?

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

I forgot to mention - I won that contest.

Dave

 

[TheHolleys87]

I forgot to mention - I won that contest.

Dave

Congratulations! And you know we’ll want reports every step of the way!

 

[DaveNV]

Congratulations! And you know we’ll want reports every step of the way!

Oh yeah. I do too!

Dave

 

[AnnaS]

I forgot to mention - I won that contest.

Dave

Nice!!! Congratulations!!

 

[DaveNV]

Our cruise on the Star Clipper starts Saturday. We're flying into San Jose, Costa Rica, on Thursday, spending a few days exploring the city, then boarding the ship Saturday afternoon. Really excited for this adventure.

Does anyone have any updated information about sailing on the Star Clipper, visiting Costa Rica, or lessons learned about things? I'm all ears.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

Only 'Bon Voyage!' Can't wait for the report on this one. We're back from PV and will compare notes with you.

J&P

 

[DaveNV]

Only 'Bon Voyage!' Can't wait for the report on this one. We're back from PV and will compare notes with you.

J&P

Thanks, Jim. We're heading to PV in early March. So there will be questions.

Dave

 

[Timeshare Von]

Our cruise on the Star Clipper starts Saturday. We're flying into San Jose, Costa Rica, on Thursday, spending a few days exploring the city, then boarding the ship Saturday afternoon. Really excited for this adventure.

Does anyone have any updated information about sailing on the Star Clipper, visiting Costa Rica, or lessons learned about things? I'm all ears.

Dave

Hope you're having a great time Dave! Looking forward to hearing more about it soon.

 

[Cornell]

Super cool!

 

[Sandy VDH]

Its been 10 years since I was on board, interesting to see how things are doing for the cruise line. Looking forward to an update.

Wonder if they still play Amazing Grace when they put up the sails.

 

[heathpack]

Have fun! We did a Star Clippers cruise in French Polynesia 15ish years ago. It was a great trip!

 

[DaveNV]

Well, we're back! The cruise was amazing, and we enjoyed it immensely.

We sailed on Star Clipper, identical sister ship to their Star Flyer, both slightly smaller than Royal Clipper, their largest ship. It is a classic clipper-rigged sailing ship, with four masts, and something like 21 sails of various sizes and shapes. It is a very impressive ship. They can accommodate 166 passengers, but on this sailing there was only 90 passengers onboard. It made for a very intimate, uncrowded experience, and we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. They have a crew of 76 (I think) so there were plenty of people on board to tend to passengers. We felt very pampered, and by the end of the week, we knew many crewmembers by name. Go look at the website www.starclippers.com to get a good feel of the ships and the cruise itineraries they offer. After having sailed on Celebrity Ascent last summer, this was quite a different experience.

For starters, I won this cruise in a giveaway contest Star Clippers had on their Facebook page in November 2023. I was offered my choice of any Costa Rica cruise on this ship between December 2024 and February 2025. I chose the January 18th sailing, based on the itinerary. They were alternating between places in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, or Costa Rica and Panama. We wanted to see the Nicaragua port, since it was near a great National Park we wanted to visit. After our trip was booked, they changed the itinerary, and deleted Nicaragua from things, but didn't bother to tell me. So our cruise was all within the boundaries of Costa Rica. If I'd been told things had changed, I'd have likely switched to one of the sailings that went to Panama, if only to expand what we were able to see.

We left Puerto Caldera, sailing to Quepos, Golfito, Playa Panama, Bahia Potrero, Islas Tortugas, and back to Puerto Caldera. If you look at a map, we basically covered Costa Rica's Pacific Coast side from top to bottom. Scenery was very nice, weather was great, and we had a nice time. The only tour we scheduled was at what is called "Villa Vanilla," an organic vanilla and spice grower in the mountains above Quepos. Their tour was extremely informational, very pleasant, and quite a good time. Only six of us from the ship were there, so it was like having the place to ourselves. I'd highly recommend visiting their farm.

The only reason we scheduled just one tour was because it left from a pier. The rest were all "wet landing" tours. They'd load passengers on tenders from the ship, and head for the beach, At some point those passengers had to manage to climb from the tender into a Zodiac inflatable, which then got closer to shore. Once at the beach, passengers had to climb out of the Zodiac into water as much as chest-deep, and wade ashore. With Jeff's physical limitations, and my artifical knees (with no lateral nerves), we opted not to risk those landings. It wouldn't have taken much to get my husband or myself injured, and bedridden for the rest of the trip. Better safe than sorry. If we ever sail with them again, we'll choose an itinerary with dockside landings. So we enjoyed a lot of peace and quiet on the ship while others were braving the wet landings.

We opted for an upgraded stateroom on the ship, which put us in Stateroom 328 on the Clipper Deck, the same deck as the dining room, Purser's Office, and the "Sloop Shop" ship's store. Dining is at posted times in one large room filled with large tables and booths, with open seating. We found ourselves dining with a certain group of nice folks we became very friendly with. By the end of the week, it was like we were eating with family. Food was quite good, ordered from an eclectic menu, with several entree, salad, and dessert choices each night. Beverages were ala carte, but pricing was very reasonable (by cruise ship standards.) Jeff took a liking to the Proseco they served, and he said each glass was 4 Euro. (Our bill at the end of the week was very reasonable.)

Our stateroom was small, but accommodations were comfortable. They started us off with the beds separated into two twins, but it was impossible to walk around them. We opted to having them placed together, which gave more floor space, but made climbing into the bed awkward, since one side was against the outer bulkhead. There was a small bathroom in the stateroom, which required a bit of maneuvering to take a shower (floor sloping steeply toward a drain, rocking and rolling ship, hard to brace yourself to stay balanced without falling. The handgrip on the wall wasn't just for looks. It took a few tries before we got it all figured out.) All in, it was comfortable, and we slept pretty well.

They offered Starlink internet service - a satellite service you may know is owned by Elon Musk. 3gb of data was 50 Euro. We each got that, and managed to squeeze it to last the full week. The service worked very well on the ship, and tied in nicely with the Airalo eSims we bought to use on land in Costa Rica (3gb plan was $18, I think, and it provided a local phone number in country, if I needed to make any calls.) After we got home I found we had zero Roaming Charges through our cell provider. So that was quite a good thing.

There was a TV in the room, but no programming to speak of. After viewing the Safety Briefing on the first day, the TV stayed off. There was nothing to watch. We found walking around the ship and socializing was much more fun.

On the last day, after the last tender from the beach had brought back the last of the passengers, they took a few loads of passengers out for a special treat - they raised all the sails, and started sailing into the sunset. The tender circled the ship, and we were able to take some impressive pictures of the ship under full sail. It was really striking.

Some pictures:

We stayed in San Jose, Costa Rica for two nights before the cruise, and one night after, which gave us time to see some local museums to learn some of the history of Costa Rica. (Look up the Jade Museum, the Gold Museum, and the National Museum of Costa Rica. Three excellent places to visit. Highly recommended.)

The trip was not without the usual bumps and delays, but we've all dealt with those before. All in, we had no trouble anywhere, and everyone we met was kind and helpful. Language was rarely an issue, and we found most people spoke English well enough for us to get our point across when we had questions. It was a very, very good experience.

We had a lot of fun.

Dave

 

[klpca]

Wow! What a great trip! I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and even happier that you won the cruise! What a story.

 

[Sandy VDH]

There was a parrot living onboard, wonder if the bird was still alive and there.

Do they still play amazing grace when hoisting up the sails?

Thanks for the update @DaveNV

 

[Passepartout]

Thanks, Dave! Glad you had a good trip, without significant hiccups. I was able to discern that it wouldn't be a trip one of us would find more pleasant than the risks involved. She's a beautiful vessel, though.

Welcome home!

 

[AnnaS]

Welcome home! Great trip/cruise. Definitely a nice prize to win. Ship is beautiful!!

 

[Hindsite]

@DaveNV Great review, thanks I think I need to do one of these, probably in the Med....

Update: Booked it! Royal Clipper, 4 nights Rome to Rome, Sept 2025. 10% early discount ends today!!!

 

[TheHolleys87]

Thanks for the wonderful review, all pertinent information clearly stated. As much as I’d wish it, such a voyage isn’t in our future, so again I’ll need to live vicariously through your reports!

 

[Luanne]

@DaveNV Thanks for the great update on your cruise. With a ship/boat that size did you have any problems with motion sickness?

 

[Timeshare Von]

Hey Dave thanks for the update and wonderful photos. I'm so glad you had a nice trip. It looks very nice.

 

[DaveNV]

There was a parrot living onboard, wonder if the bird was still alive and there.

Do they still play amazing grace when hoisting up the sails?

Thanks for the update @DaveNV

They didn't have a parrot or play Amazing Grace when they raised the sails. They played a song that sounded like the one in The Hunt For Red October when the Russian submarine was sailing up the river (if memory serves.) Whatever it was, it was a moving anthem.

Glad to share. I may find more pictures to add later.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

Thanks, Dave! Glad you had a good trip, without significant hiccups. I was able to discern that it wouldn't be a trip one of us would find more pleasant than the risks involved. She's a beautiful vessel, though.

Welcome home!

Thanks, Jim. It was fun!

Dave