Royal Clipper, Windward Islands, 14 Jan 2012

We are booked on the Royal Clipper, Windward Island Cruise on Jan 14th.

First time with Star Clippers. Any tips on excursions or life on board would be much appreciated please.

less than six weeks to go and counting . . . . .

We have been on the Royal Clipper several times including to the Windwards. To get you started suggest that if you can you aim to arrive at the Port in Bridgetown at, say, 3.30 p.m. - boarding usually starts at 4.00 p.m. You could meet/chat with some other early arrivers and would be one of the first to board. Complimentary cocktail in the Tropical Bar area when you board (probably welcomed by the Captain and one or two other Officers) - gives the crew some time to get your luggage to your cabin. Whilst still day light (gets dark about 6.00. p.m. - watch the sunset?) suggest you have a look around and find your way to the open part of the bridge and the area there - one deck up from the bar - stairway to each side of the bar (see below). Dinner usually starts at 7.30 - suggest you are in to dinner at that time and be out by, say, 9.45 p.m. Make your way up to the bridge area for Sailaway, which is usually at 10.00 p.m. The first sails are being raised as the ships leaves the harbour. Listen as well as watch. Magic.

You should get details of excursions etc. with your travel docs. A couple of thoughts for D.I.Y excursions. In Antigua make your way (it is walking distance from where you are tendered ashore) to the historic Nelson's Dockyard area - and take some time to look around there, quite a lot to see - very interesting in several different ways. Might be an entrance fee for part of it - have some Euros handy.

A possibility for the Iles des Saintes (in effect part of France) is to walk over to the beach on the other side of the Island - that is where the locals go - nice beach with lots of palm tree cover, snorkelling and swimming. To do that when you are tendered ashore turn right. After a short distance take the road to the left and follow that over - takes about half an hour each way (we always carry a bottle of water when ashore in the Caribbean). We tend to do that in the morning and walk back so that we are in the main area around lunch time when we have a snack/drink in one of the bars/restaurants in that area along the front.

Have a super holiday - we have to wait for the summer for our next Clipper holiday when we are going on the Star Flyer in the Baltic.

Oops - ref. my post a few minutes ago. Euros for the Iles des France. Might be East Caribbean Dollars for Antigua - please check that out

I would Love to hear from you when you return. My wife and I are on the same cruise in March 31, 2012...

Sorry I cannot give you lots of advise, but would be happy to share any research if you are interested.

Have a great trip.

Thanks for the responses, and tips.

We are staying in Barbados for a few days before, so should have no problem getting to the port early. After our last couple of winters here in the UK, don't want to risk a flight due to land just before we are due to sail!

I have read through the excursions on the Star Clipper web site but still not a lot wiser - any recommendations would be appreciated. Thought that we might just pick a couple, as this holiday is meant to be for chilling out. A bit of swimming and snorkelling on Iles des Saintes and exploring on Antigua sounds good. Is the snorkelling equipment on the ship OK or should we take our own?

One more question that I do have is currency? We always have a supply of euros and dollars, but guess that we also need some Eastern Caribean Dollars?

Thanks again for the replies, will report back when we return.

There is snorkelling equipment available on the ship. Having said that I take my own. Yes some Euros and US Dollards plus some East Caribbean Dollars. Particularly as you are staying in Barbados for a few days also suggest you take some Barbados Dollars (You can also use your debit card at cash machines at (?some) banks)US Dollars are quite widely accepted in Barbados - the rate of exchange is fixed at 2 Barbados Dollars = 1 US Dollar. As has been pointed out before by others on these forums if, for example, a taxi driver says $40 that is Barbados Dollars unless you have agreed otherwise.

If you are flying out from Gatwick you may wish to consider staying at a hotel there overnight to avoid the risk of missing your flight because of hold ups on the Motorways - especially the M25

Hopefully you are beginning to "feel" the warmth of the Caribbean sun on your back already. Looking forward to hearing your "report" when you get back.

Scuba on the Royal Clipper . . . .

Don't know if you are a diver but just in case . . .

RC uses European steel tanks with DIN regs. If you bring your own stuff, they can fit you with an adaptor for your yoke reg. Also, the steel tanks are heavier so you'll be taking less weight. The sports team are the DMs and are quite good. You'll load into Zodiacs on the marina platform, motor out 15-20 minutes to the dive sites and backroll in. You can store all your dive stuff at the marina platform which is very convenient. We did separate tips for the DMs at the end of our cruise.

Also, the groups were pretty small - 5 or 6 people plus the DM.

We had a great time - dove every other day for 10 days - a great way to do different diving in many locations.

Hope you had a wonderful trip...

How was Barbados?

We leave March 31, on Royal Clipper.

How much were the drinks on ship? I understand they include tips. What currancy do use on board ship?

Excited in Texas.

The problem with holidays is that we have to come home and go back to work to pay for the next one. So, apologies for not reporting back on our trip . . .

We had a fantastic time.

We were celebrating a 'special' birthday and had decided to book a delux suite, which was very good and suited us as, although we are reasonably social animals, we also like our own space. Having a bath in a rough sea took a bit of getting used to, and round corners on the furniture might have reduced the number of bruises that I came home with.

We did three excursions, my favourite was the kayaking on Antigua.

Favourite stop, was Isle de France, least favourite was Martinique.

SOH climbed the crow's nest on his birthday - bonus!

The food was good, although the menu a bit confusing - it helped that on our first evening we sat with people who had been on RC before. The Maitre D did an excellent job of mixing and matching people at dinner. Good way of socialising.

We have already pre-registered our interest in doing Venice to Rome Next year,

which is the best indication of how much we enjoyed ourselves.

Pleased to hear that you had a super holiday. We did Venice to Rome a few years ago on the Royal Clipper - excellent. If you start a thread on Cruise Critic nearer the time I will try to let you have one or two suggestions for that itinerary.

Hope you had a wonderful trip...

 

How was Barbados?

 

We leave March 31, on Royal Clipper.

 

How much were the drinks on ship? I understand they include tips. What currancy do use on board ship?

 

Excited in Texas.

Not sure what your travel plans are for Pre/Post-cruise time in Barbados. We stayed three days extra on both ends. Nice place to chill out. We were a little disappointed to find that most tourist activities on the island did not operate on the weekends. The majority of the tourist shops in the cruise terminal were closed as the BIG cruise ships were not in port.

The BD dollar is valued at 1/2 the US dollar. Vendors and cab drivers tend to tell you a price and let you guess if it is $ BD or $ USD. Ask or you may be paying double for everythig. US currency was widely accepted without comment.

All charges on the ship are in Euros. Like most cruise ships, cash is not used. Anything you purchase is charged to your cabin and bar service has the tip included. I can't remember what the prices were for drinks but they were in line with the big cruise lines. The bar was stocked with an eye for European travelers.

We loved Royal and would sail with Star Clippers again in the future.

Enjoy!