Sea Cloud Cruises Operates Two Posh Old-world Sailing Ships.

Sea Cloud Cruises

In early February 2022, Yacht Portfolio, part of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection startup, took over Sea Cloud Cruises and its three ships, greatly expanding their fleet. Sea Cloud’s main office remains in Hamburg as the line has a very strong presence in Germany. The worldwide clientele should not see any major changes.

Germany-based Sea Cloud Cruises operates three of the poshest old-world sailing ships you can find. The four-masted Sea Cloud was commissioned by super-rich Wall Street tycoon E. F. Hutton in 1931 and decorated by his extravagant heiress and businesswoman wife Marjorie Merriweather Post, who spared no expense outfitting the ship in the finest marble, gold-trim and mahogany.

The ship has changed hands several times over the years (including a stint as a floating weather station for the US Navy during WWII) and, after being virtually abandoned in the 1960s, was purchased in 1978 by the present owners and restored to its glorious beginnings.

Fleetmate Sea Cloud II was built in a somewhat similar style in 2001, albeit a bit larger and with less wood paneling in the cabins and public rooms. Both attract travelers who appreciate tradition and elegance, along with good food and well-traveled shipmates.

Note: In summer 2021, the line’s newest sailing ship — Sea Cloud Spirit (136 passengers)— began sailing in the Mediterranean.

Sea Cloud under full sail — WOW! * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

Ship, Year Delivered & Passengers

Sea Cloud (built 1931, 64 p)
Sea Cloud II (b. 2001, 94 p)
Sea Cloud Spirit (b. 2020/21, 138 p)

Passenger Profile

On Europe cruises expect mostly Germans, plus some other Europeans and a sprinkling of North Americans and others, majority 50+. In the Caribbean, it’s about 30% American passengers, 30% German, 20% British, and the rest from elsewhere in Europe.

Passenger Decks

3 (Sea Cloud ), 4 (Sea Cloud II ); no elevators. (Sea Cloud Spirit) elevator connects five decks.

Price

$$$

Included Features

Wine and beer at lunch and dinner; all soft drinks and coffees throughout cruise; and an English-speaking tour guide on every sailing.

Itineraries

Winters see all three both ships in the Caribbean doing a wide variety of itineraries, many from Barbados including a handful that focus on Cuba (Sea Cloud II); and others that go to Costa Rica and other parts of Central America, and the Bahamas. One day is spent at sea.
Summers, the fleet is in the Mediterranean, doing 4- to 19-night cruises from ports including Venice, Valletta, Barcelona and Malaga, plus a handful of cruises in Western and Northern Europe (Sea Spirit) and more in the Canary Islands, including when the ships move seasons between Europe and the Caribbean.

Why Go?

To step back in time on elegant old-world ships that are as much a part of the travel experience, if not more so, than the destinations visited.

When to Go?

The Sea Cloud “grand dames” cruise in different regions of the world at the best time to visit.

Can you imagine?! Sea Cloud’s opulent Merriweather Post Suite #1A * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

Cabins

Aboard Sea Cloud the ultimate abode is Post’s own museum-like suite, with its Louis XIV–style bed and nightstands, marble fireplace and bathroom, chandeliers, and intricate moldings. There are a total of 10 original cabins with stunning interiors, plus four former officers’ cabins that appeal to ship buffs, with bunk beds and a door that leads straight out onto the covered section of the promenade deck. The cabins added when the ship catered to cruise passengers are much plainer, though the original ones and the shared lounges and dining saloon are stunning and set it apart from the other two ships.

Sea Cloud II also has several opulent suites, one with burled wood paneling and a canopy bed, but they can’t compete with the originals on Sea Cloud. Sea Cloud Spirit will offer 69 cabins, 25 with private balconies.

Otherwise, the standard cabins on both ships are roomy and very comfortable, but nothing out of the ordinary. Those on Sea Cloud II have small sitting areas and marble bathrooms, and TV/VCRs (Sea Cloud cabins do not have TVs). All cabins on both ships have telephones, safes, hair dryers, and bathrobes, and cabins with either a shower or tub.

Not too shabby. Sea Cloud’s Category 3B cabin. * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

Public Rooms

Each ship has one restaurant, a bar on the lido deck, and a lounge for reading, board games and surfing the Internet on the resident laptop. Inside and out, Sea Cloud feels like a floating museum in many ways, with antiques, marble fireplaces and abundant wood decking, paneling and furniture, including an arc of padded mahogany benches at the stern of the Promenade for excellent views of the majestic masts, sails and rigging.

On the larger Sea Cloud II, the elegant lounge is designed with rich mahogany woodwork, ornate ceiling moldings, leather club couches, and overstuffed bucket chairs; and there’s also a separate library. Sea Cloud II has a small exercise room with a few machines and free weights, plus there’s a sauna and swim platform at the stern. Sea Cloud Spirit has similar characteristics.

All three ships have small medical centers and Wi-Fi access is available for a fee.

The interior lounge aboard Sea Cloud II. * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

Sea Cloud Cruises Dining

Mealtime is a big part of the Sea Cloud experience and the dining room on each ship accommodates all guests in a single, open seating. Cuisine is continental and wines and beer are complimentary at lunch and dinner. Breakfast and some lunches are provided buffet-style, with lunch served up on deck as often as possible, while the more formal dinners are served on elegant candlelit tables set with white linens, china, and silver.

Expect dishes like a Parmesan cheese soufflé, grilled scallops or lobster, and veal tenderloin. The majority of men wear jackets nightly, and with the addition of ties for the two formal nights on each cruise. Most cruises also feature a barbecue night out on deck.

Sea Cloud’s lovely dining room, the original owner’s salon, is paneled in oak and set with long elegant tables. Aboard Sea Cloud II, the dining room has tables for 2, 4, 6 and 8. In both you can sit where you wish.

Dining on deck aboard Sea Cloud. * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

Activities & Entertainment

The favorite pastime for most is to merely sit on deck to admire the tall ship scene — the sails, masts, winches, ropes and cleats against all that teak — and watch the crew work the riggings. Typically one day on a weeklong cruise is spent at sea. Weather permitting, the bridge is always open and officers are happy to answer questions. Unlike the Star Clipper’s three ships, though, for insurance reasons passengers are not allowed to help handle the sails as the crew does everything by hand.

Throughout the week there are talks by guest lecturers on most cruises as well as daily briefings by the cruise director. Occasionally there are theme cruises featuring noted artists, chefs or vintners who give talks and presentations. The ultimate event aboard Sea Cloud is the highly popular “open house,” where passengers dress up and enjoy champagne and caviar on the Main Deck and then tour each other’s cabins (with the residents’ permission, of course).

Sea Cloud II also has a library, a small gym, a sauna, and a swimming platform for use when the ship is anchored in some gorgeous place and conditions permit swimming right then and there. Each ship carries aboard zodiacs to shuttle passengers ashore when anchored or for snorkeling excursions or water-skiing. Evenings a pianist serenades passengers as they mingle over drinks and typically once per cruise local musicians come aboard for an evening. A crewmember choral group is another popular after-dinner diversion.

For many, Sea Cloud II’s big advantage is her larger size and interior public rooms — she is a cruise ship, while Sea Cloud is a yacht — which comes in handy, for instance, on rainy days when cruising on the Northern and Baltic seas.