STAR Clippers

Review of Star Clippers

Star Clippers offers the perfect marriage of adventure, romance and comfort, not to mention the thrill of sailing on a gorgeous replica of a 19th-century clipper ship. The company’s trio of swashbucklers feels like they belong in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Central America, bucking through the surf and wind like ships are meant to.

The days when one of the ships occasionally ventured east of Suez into the Indian Ocean en route to Southeast Asia are part of the past. Life aboard under sail is paramount followed by island visits.

Watching sunsets melt behind the rigging or a port come into focus from a front row perch at the rails, a Star Clippers cruise is best spent on deck — that is whenever you’re not relaxing in the cozy nautical cabins or having a tasty meal in the dining room.

Being up on deck is the whole point of a Star Clippers cruise. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Owner and company founder Mikael Krafft, a Swedish-born industrialist and real estate developer, spared no detail or expense to design and build his fleet of three square-rigged clippers in the likeness of their speedy predecessors — Krafft and his team referred to the original drawings and specifications of Scottish-born Donald McKay, the leading naval architect of 19th-century clipper-ship technology.

He established his shipyard in East Boston, Massachusetts, and his design was successful enough to stave off much of the steamship’s early competition, plus operating with wind rather fuel costs.

The largest of the three, the 227-passenger five-masted Royal Clipper, was modeled on the famed Preussen, a 1902-built German clipper. She is the largest square-rigged in service with 5,202 square meters of sail, hence she holds the honorary title Queen of the Seas. All three sport towering masts, sails, rigging, wooden decks and chunky ventilators.

Facing forward on the top deck, if you didn’t hear the murmur of the engines much of the time (and could ignore the small pool and all those people in 21st century clothes), it’s not a leap to imagine being a crew member cranking winches on a three-month run to England with a cargo of tea and opium from China.

The Star Clippers’ ships typically rely on sails alone about 25% to 50% of the time; otherwise, the sails are used with the engines to maintain speeds of about 9 to 14 knots for the comfort of passengers — though occasionally in strong winds they clock speeds in the neighborhood of 15 knots. Hold on and feel the thrill of sail power!

Sunset through the sails. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Of course, the beauty of a Star Clippers cruise is you feel like you’re on a real working ship without having to doing any work. While you can help pull in the sails a few times throughout the week or climb the masts (with a harness) at designated times, most passengers choose to be voyeurs, gazing out at the sea and distant landscape through the lens of the ships’ masts and lines. Sunrise and sunset through the sails, lines and masts are magical.

Some years ago, fans were thrilled to learn that Star Clippers would be building a fourth ship, the Flying Clipper, a much anticipated and complex construction project that became an ongoing saga due to several years of shipyard delays. After a protracted dispute between Star Clippers and the shipyard, the shipyard eventually took over the ship’s operation. Then an outfit called Tradewind Voyages took over operations of the renamed ship, Golden Horizon. That didn’t work out either; according to an article in the weekly travel news site TTG, “Tradewind has since cancelled all cruises until October 2023 and Golden Horizon has been put up for sale.”

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Star Clippers’ Fleet

Star Flyer (built 1991 & 172 passengers) – Mediterranean, Adriatic & Caribbean

Star Clipper (b. 1992 & 172p) – Mediterranean, Caribbean & Costa Rica/Panama

Royal Clipper (b. 2000 & 227p) – western Mediterranean & Caribbean

Star Clippers Passenger Profile

A mix of mostly Europeans, British and Americans in their 50s on up, plus a fair number of families with children aboard in summer and holiday weeks. In our opinion, it’s best for children to be at least 10 years old. Many passengers own their boats and just love to sail, with a huge number of repeat passengers who keep coming back for more. Some passengers would never consider a standard cruise ship.

Note: Announcements are made in English, German, and French when those nationalities are aboard.

Price

The website lists an unusually high minimum rate, then beneath is a 65% discount applicable to all sailings.

Included Features

Watersports (weather & conditions permitting)
Photo safari
Beach visits

Itineraries

From November through March Royal Clipper and Star Flyer sail the Caribbean, undertaking 7-night cruises embarking and disembarking from Barbados and St. Maarten, calling at ports in the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, St. Barts, Antigua, Martinique, Nevis, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia and others. During this time Royal Clipper also has a couple of 14-night sailings that include Colombia and Panama. Christmas cruises are also popular. Some longer cruises offer a Panama Canal transit then continue along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Since November 2022, Star Clipper has spent the winter offering 7-night cruises along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, sometimes including Panama too.

From April to November, all three ships are in the Mediterranean. In the western Mediterranean, a wide variety of itineraries, ranging from 4 to 12 nights, embark and disembark at Venice, Rome, Cannes, Lisbon and Malta, with calls at ports in Italy, Montengero, Croatia, Greece, Corsica, Sardinia, the Riviera, Saint Tropez, Malta, Balearic Islands, Spain and Morocco.

In the eastern Mediterranean, mostly 7-night cruises embark and disembark from Athens, Greece for Aegean Sea itineraries, with stops including Mykonos, Patmos, Rhodes, Santorini, Hydra, Myrina Limnos, Portos and ports in Turkey.

In the spring and autumn, the trio sail across the ocean to reposition between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. These itineraries last from 15 to 20 nights.

Note: Though these itineraries are not currently being offered, a few years back, Star Clipper sailed in Southeast Asia in the Andaman Sea, Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, calling at Borneo ports, Ko Samui and Phuket in Thailand, Singapore and Bali in Indonesia. And for a few years, about a decade ago, Star Clippers was also offering cruises in French Polynesia in the winter months. From time to time, Star Clippers offers new itineraries, to complement their standard Med and Caribbean runs.

Approaching lovely Monemvassia. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Sample Itineraries for Star Clippers

The 7-night Treasure Islands Caribbean cruise begins at St. Maarten and stops at a number of British Virgin Island destinations, including Virgin Gorda, Beef Island, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and Norman Island, sailing the Sir Francis Drake Channel and stopping at St. Kitts and St. Barts, completing the journey back at St. Maarten.

Now, the Mediterranean Corsica, Sardinia & the Riviera cruise is a 7-night adventure from Cannes, France, sailing to Portofino, Italy; Propriano on the French island of Corsica; Sintino on the Italian island of Sardinia; Calvi on Corsica followed by St. Tropez, France before returning to Cannes.

Why Go?

For the great mix of adventure and comfort, you can feel like an old salt soaking in the sailing scene without giving up the luxury of nice cabins, good dining and even massages.

When to Go

Two winter in the Caribbean and Central America and this pair then spends the summer in various parts of the Mediterranean with spring and fall trans-Atlantic voyages to reposition in-between the two seasons. The third is based in Southeast Asia year round.

Activities & Entertainment

There is rarely more than one sea day on a Star Clippers cruise. The ships are usually on the move before dinner and early mornings, so guests get plenty of time to enjoy the ships at sea. When weather conditions cooperate, the sails are put up and the engines are turned off; otherwise engines power the ship as well as a few sails up for show.

The cruise director or captain does at least one talk a day about the ships or the destinations, and passengers are welcome to crawl into the bowsprit netting at the front of the ships for an exciting stint sunbathing above the crashing surf.

When in port several times per cruise, you can climb a mast in a harness and stand on the crow’s next 55 feet up for sweeping views. Passengers are free to stroll into the chart house to chat with the captain or officer on duty, and occasionally there are engine room tours, excursions via tender to photograph the ships under sail, and exercise classes on deck.

The beloved “photo safari” when passengers can take photos of the ship from tenders. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

In port, if you don’t go off on a guided excursion or a walkabout on your own, there is free watersports equipment including paddle boards, windsurfers and snorkeling gear.

The stuff is hauled to a nearby beach (passengers are shuttled back and forth on one of the ships’ pair of zodiac boats, which also offer water skiing) or used right next to the ship if anchored in an appropriate spot, inviting passengers to hop right into the sea.

Some itineraries offer scuba diving opportunities for certified divers, including equipment (for an extra charge).

Evenings, it’s drinks before and after dinner at the Tropical Bar, when a key board player is often on had to serenade passengers with evergreens.

After dinner, there’s an hour or so of entertainment offered, from a local folk dance troupe when in port late (for example steel drummers in the Caribbean or whirling dervishes in Turkey) to a crew talent show, trivia contest or dress-up dance party. Once in a while a movie may be shown on deck, projected onto a sail. Things rarely howl on too late.

A pirate-themed after-dinner party is always fun! * Photo: Heidi Sarna

The Ships

Royal Clipper
Star Clipper
Star Flyer

The three ships are all very similar in design, with some slight variations mainly in size and layout. While all have fours decks with no elevators, Royal Clipper is larger having been built for 227 passengers as opposed to Star Clipper and Star Flyer’s 170 passengers.

Dining on Star Clippers

Each ship has one restaurant with open seating and tables for mostly six or eight, encouraging passengers to meet and mingle. The dress code is casual, though some guests enjoy wearing jackets on the captain’s gala night. The Flyer and Clipper’s restaurant is one story, while the frillier dining room on the Royal Clipper is multi-level with a vaguely 19th-century Mississippi steamboat look, all serving continental cuisine that is simple and delicately spiced. There’s also a 24-hour coffee and tea station and snacks served in afternoons and late evenings.

Public Spaces

On all three ships, the open air Tropical Bar is the hub of activity. Passengers gather around the chunky wooden bar for drinks and daily afternoon canapés, evening entertainment (local talent that often comes aboard while the ship is at anchor) and informal briefings about the day’s schedules.

Adjacent is an indoor wood-paneled Edwardian-style library and card room, and also an indoor piano lounge mainly used for people who want a quiet place to read during the day.

The Royal Clipper also has a small gym and spa and health club on a lower deck below the waterline with portholes to look out into the deep; Flyer and Clipper offer massages in a tent-like room on deck within earshot of the crashing surf. On the sun deck Royal Clipper has three pools, while Star Flyer and Star Clipper each have two. Royal Clipper also has a marine platform lowered from the stern for watersports.

The Cabins

Cabins are nautical in decor, with wood-paneling, navy blue fabrics and brass details. The Royal Clipper’s standard cabins measure 148 sq. ft., while the Clipper’s and Flyer’s are a bit smaller at 120 to 130 sq. ft. The vast majority of cabins on all three ships are outside rooms with portholes (some with a pull down third birth); a handful are smaller inside cabins without portholes.

Each of the trio has a handful of suites, including six on the Clipper and Flyer, plus one large oddly configured owners’ suite. The 14 Deluxe Suites on Royal Clipper’s Main Deck measure 255 sq. ft. and have private balconies, sitting areas, minibars, whirlpool tubs and 24-hour butler service; the two Owner’s Suites measure 355 sq. ft. and have two marble bathrooms, though no balcony.

Consider that the lowest deck cabins near the stern will be close to the rumbling engines, and the cabins bordering the entrance to the dining room get residual noise and traffic and meal time.

In cabin: ensuite, TVs with DVD players, hair dryers.