As cruise ships get bigger and bigger and become floating resorts with 4000 people on board perhaps it is time to return to real sailing experiences .
The Star Clipper has a maximum of 170 people most of whom you will have a chance to meet and talk to you during your week sailing.
On our Caribbean sail the captain had the ship under sail almost every day.
A true sight to see and experience.
You are really up on the deck close to crew as the raise and lower sails.
The lunchtime buffet was excellent with truly different hot and cold dishes.
Evening dinner in the dining room was an opportunity to sit with old or new friends as it was open seating and timing.
Wine and drinks are cheaper than at your local pub back home.
The cabins are compact but manageable however the beds do require a bit of shuffling and you will move about if it did get rough.
the ports of call were well away from the large ports and therefore required tendering which was not a problem unless you had a mobility problem.
the shore trips tended to be more of adventure trips rather than cultural.
However visiting the French islands was a pleasure, clean , classy with good bars and restaurants and importantly you could easily walk around the towns..The beach BBQ on Antigua was a really good day ashore.
Overall a very worthwhile experience perhaps not to everyone’s taste but I recommend that you try it at least once just to remind yourself that there is an alternative to the mega ships that dump 12000 people on a small caribbean island in one day
