Saturday, 14 March--Barbados
We boarded the
Royal Clipper at about 4:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on deck. The ship sailed at sunset.
The
Royal Clipper is 442 feet long and holds about 220 passengers. It is tiny compared to other cruise ships, but is actually pretty big once you get on.
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| Royal Clipper docked in Bridgetown, Barbados |
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| This gives a better indication of its size relative to people and other ships |
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| On the deck--the round thing purports to be a swimming pool |
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| Another view on the main deck |
Cabins on board are a bit smaller than those on other ships, but adequate for the purpose.
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| Our cabin |
There was one main dining room that could hold all of the passengers. There was no assigned seating, so you ate with different people (if you wanted) every night. The passengers were about 40% American/Canadian, 30% British, and about 30% other European. The food, in my opinion, was as good as that on any other ship I have been on.
One of the best parts about this cruise is that on board charges were in Euros, which were at about 1.05 dollars to the Euro. This made drinks and wine a good bargain (about $3.50 for a glass of house wine).
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| The dining room |
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| One of our friendly bartenders |
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| The ship's library |
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| View from the atrium down to the dining room |
Sunday, 15 March--Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Our first stop was Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. Most ships stopping in St. Lucia dock in the main town of Castries, which is next to the Pitons, a pair of large peaks. Rodney Bay is about 10 miles north of Castries, and is the main yacht harbor on the island. We got off the boat expecting to walk into the main part of Rodney Bay and encounter lots of shops and restaurants. However, we wound up on the other side of the bay from the main area, with no apparent way to get to any attractions. So, we and a few other folks from the ship wound up spending the afternoon at one of the few bars on our side of the bay, testing various styles of Piton Beer.
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| Our dock at Rodney Bay |
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| Nothing to do but drink and discuss issues of the day |
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| Piton is the official beer of St. Lucia |
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| A residence on Rodney Bay |
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| A beach near Rodney Bay |
While the Royal Clipper was in Rodney Bay, we encountered a ship from Windstar Cruises (either the
Wind Star or the
Wind Surf, I think). The Windstar boats are similar to Star Clippers boats in that they look like a sailing ship. The big difference is that the Windstar ships are completely motorized and can't actually sail. (I don't know whether the Windstar ships even have sails). Star Clippers ships have sails and motors, and do sail if the wind is sufficient, which it was most of the time on our cruise.
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| A Windstar boat |
At the end of the day, when the ship leaves port, the Royal Clipper makes a big production of raising its sails, complete with classical music. I suspect the crew gets a bigger kick when they can do it in front of a Windstar ship.
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| Starting to raise the sails |
In theory, the passengers can "help" the crew raise the sails, but we are limited to pretty fundamental tasks like collecting the ropes. It's actually more fun to watch.
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| Watching the sails go up |
After departing port, it was time for sunset watching.
There is no casino, no theater, and only a couple of bars on board. Night-time
entertainment consists of a single musician and an occasional local
group brought on board. Nightly entertainment for us consisted of Brenda doing stargazing and giving (unofficial) seminars to other passengers on the night sky, while I sat in a lounge chair enjoying views like the one below.
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| Better than a casino |
Next:
Days 3 and 4--Dominica and Antigua
