Royal clipper - grenadines - 11th january 2014

[JOBAKE]

We are booked on the above and would like any fellow passengers to touch base here. Looking forward to this bit of luxury in the warmth of the Caribbean!! We have been on the Royal Clipper before, including on this itinerary, and may be able to answer any enquiries you may have.

WeBeGone -are we going to see you again on this one??

[JOBAKE]

Only a month away now! Any more of you Cruise Critic fans joining us? I am sure we will not be alone. I was alone once on the Royal Clipper in the Caribbean - sort of. Let me know if you would like to hear of that experience!

[shilu]

Hi Jobake,

I would love to hear about this. As you know, we are travelling the same itinerary 2 weeks after you, and we also have not come across any cruise critic fans.

We are quite sorted with things we want to do in port, but the hardest one to sort seems to be St Vincent. Just wondered if it is easy enough to find cabs or take boat trips once you are there,

Many thanks,

Shilu

[JOBAKE]

Shilu - We are hoping that we will get our tickets next week - I will be in touch with you again about St. Vincent when the tickets are to hand.

 

Alone on the Royal Clipper - sort of. We were on the Royal Clipper in the Caribbean when, one day, sailaway coincided with afternoon tea. Unusually it was raining. There was a very convivial atmosphere in the (covered) Tropical Bar which is where afternoon tea is served. I do like "Sailaway" so I decided to brave the rain and go up to the Sun Deck. At the very moment that I stepped out of the cover of the Tropical Bar to go up to the Sun Deck the rain stopped! I went up to the Sun Deck and passed two members of the crew raising the last couple of sails and made my way along to the open part of the Bridge. One can see virtually the whole length of the ship from the Sun Deck and the Bridge area. The ship was being navigated from within the enclosed part of the Bridge. When I got to the open part of the Bridge I looked all around me and there was, literally, nobody else in sight. The sails were up and filled, and Vangelis 1492 The Conquest of Paradise (also known as Columbus) was playing (that is played at each sailaway). I was alone - not another person in sight - it was all mine. After a few minutes some fellow passengers realised that the rain had stopped and made their way up to that area - no longer alone!!

 

As it is Christmas time, how about two Clipper stories for the price of one - here we go then with the second one. We were on the Star Clipper in the Med and among the passengers were three generations of a family from the western side of the USA. The youngest member of that family I will call J. (name remembered). J. was 14 and the only child on the ship. The sea chart for the trip is raffled off to the passengers and the Captain of the Star Clipper had pre-arranged with J. that J. would draw the raffle (on the Captain's Dinner night). J. duly drew the raffle and the Captain announced the winning number. The winner of the raffle - a gentleman passenger - collected the sea chart from the Captain. Now, I have a question for you folks reading this. That question is "What did the gentleman who won the sea chart do with it?" Your answers invited!!

[shilu]

Wow,

I can't imagine what he did!

Hopefully he did not ruin it in any way,

Shilu

[JOBAKE]

He gave it to J. Wonderful generosity!

[JOBAKE]

Shilu - I now have the docs. etc. for our holiday. The Royal Clipper is scheduled to be at St. Vincent on the Wednesday from 8.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (it goes to Bequia for the afternoon).

 

For St. Vincent there are four possible trips from the Royal Clipper organised by Starclippers. They are:-

 

Garden of Eden - 39 euros

Dark View Falls - 50 euros

Reef Life Tour - 56 euros

"Parrot" Look Out Trail - 49 euros

 

Lots of choice there. Sorry but I do not have a picture in my mind about taxis there but if you go to the internet and type in - Saint Vincent Taxis - several sites come up.

 

For tours organised aboard the Royal Clipper there is a table in the area in front of the Purser's desk with the information about the tours and the booking forms. Getting any booking organised is pretty relaxed - none of the hassle of the large cruise ships.

[shilu]

Many thanks Jobake.

 

Do you tend to keep a lot of euro currency or US dollars on you. I assume you just use your card while on the RC?

 

Also, have a great Christmas and New Year and a fab holiday!

[JOBAKE]

Currency - we take a modest amount of each currency to cover the places visited which, for this holiday, means Barbados $, East Caribbean $ and Euros. We also take some U.S.$ as a back up as most people will accept them. Any currencies that we have left over we keep until the next time rather than selling them back to the currency exchange. We are quite fortunate here in that our local Marks and Spencer store has a currency exchange and they usually have all the foregoing currencies in stock.

 

When you board the ship in Barbados the Royal Clipper will take an imprint of your credit card and on board purchases (including any tours booked on board) will be charged to that. Upon embarkation they will also take your passports so that they can deal with the various immigration authorities along the way. When you leave the ship at the end of your holiday you sign the bill for your on board purchases (which, as I have said, is then charged to your credit card) and they give you back your passports. When boarding they give you an I.D. card (similar in size to a credit card) and you use that for on board purchases and to register when you get off the ship to go ashore and when you get back on. It works well.

 

If we had been in touch with you here earlier in the year we may have been able to meet you as we were down in Devon in the summer for a few days.

 

And a super Christmas, new year and holiday to you too!!

[janecambridge]

Having just got back from the windward islands, I recommend you buy Internet per hour,not for 4 hours. if the connection goes down whilst you are on your computer,you cannot log out.When connection recommences,you are still logged in and will lose your time.

Also if you have OBC,get in writing what it can be spent on. A group of us are having trouble sorting this out.

The Grenadiines are one of our favourite places. enjoy...:)

[shilu]

Hi Jobake and anyone else who was on this cruise,

How was the cruise and the sailing? The forecast from here kept mentioning rain and clouds, but I hope it was not too heavy.

Anyway, would love to hear how you got on,

Shilu

[JOBAKE]

Arrived home yesterday after our post cruise stay in Barbados. The Royal Clipper was in good shape - very well maintained as usual. The ship was effectively full for our trip but we still had the best service in the dining room that we have had during our several trips on the RC. During the first day and until lunchtime on the second day we had some heavy showers but then the showers abated and the sun ruled - we have the tans to prove it. We had some good sailing in the Trades and, as usual, some very interesting and convivial fellow passengers (although there was one couple who preferred a 6,000 plus passenger cruise ship they had been on!!). Would like to hear your views when you get back - as I write this you should be boarding about 5 hours from now.

[LTCOP]

Hi JOBAKE!

 

Glad to hear you had a good cruise! And good weather! We are anxiously awaiting our turn in February:-) And hoping the weather cooperates and we are able to get out of here. It has been quite the winter where we live!

 

I would enjoy hearing any other details about your cruise:-)

 

Pam