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Cruise Reviews

Star Clippers

Star Clipper

Boutique Cruising....

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Boutique cruising....	8 of 12 people found this review informative

Reviewed By: Shipahoy, Camberley on 2nd Dec 2011
Cruise Line: Star Clippers	Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: Star Clipper	Sailed: November, 2011
Destination: Caribbean	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Outside	Occasion: Annual/regular holiday

We have never been on a cruise, and never fancied the big boats, but we did want to do the clipper thing! If you like boutique hotels, this is an experience not to be missed, its not contemorary chic, but it is considerably smaller and personal than any of those casino/show/24 hour buffet boats. Sailing in the moonlight, cinema show projected on a sail on deck at night, stopping at places the cruise ships dont - all great stuff. We had a category 3 cabin, decor fairly comfortable sailing yacht in style - wood trimmed, though perhaps the structure is a bit more pressed steel than cabinet made mahogany! The cabins are not large but they work OK for a week or so and everything we had (for a two week holiday) was hung up or in drawers/on shelves and the cases went under the very comfortable 180cm double bed. Not sure I'd want the top category cabins, which open directly to the decks, because the windows are all on the walkways so you cant actually open the curtains/blinds very often. Food magnificent, daily choice far in excess of expectations. We never required lunch after a full breakfast service and with an afternoon snack available and a dinner that was up to 6 courses at your request, we didn't need to - but a hit and cld buffet was available and looked great. The staff are very good at their jobs, from housekeeping to sailing, but they are not really entertainers and I was quite happy that the review show was only an hour or so. The pianist at a proper piano in the inside bar and at dinner was fine, but repeated servings of the electric piano at tea and after dinner in the deck bar was not necessary. Perhaps some of the "local entertainment" mentioned in the onboard guide could have been provided? The watersports were a bit limited but not oversubscribed too often. Despite the green(ish) credentials of the cruise I think some jetskis or small powered boats would have gone down well. The anchoring to disembarkation and embarkation to departure, could have been quicker on occasion to allow more time for onshore activity? And although the point is to get away from the big ports, I do think that a beach (either deserted or packed) and a bar is probably not enough every day and we should have stayed at some places longer or shorter - perhaps personal taste? A lot of the trips had fair old trips by minibus to the 'attraction' so we didn't bother and organised our own transport and it was gaster and not much more expensive - five star cruises should not be using buses and forcing people to share their space quite so much. We did two things off our list - French West Indies and sailing on a proper Clipper, would we go again.... Yes but maybe in another sea with a different schedule. A shame that the Far East is off the schedule until the Pirates from Somalia are sorted.
Quality of Food
excellent from fresh eggs in the morning to Lobster or any of the other 4 starters, 4 mains and 2 or 3 dessert choices plus soup and sorbet options.
Entertainment
Its meant to be a downtempo cruise, a bit too muh electric piano, and no local flavour.
Shore Excursions
St Barts by ATV was great, orgainsed ourselves otherwise as we did not want to do the "bus via my cousins shop" route and be herded about.
Staff
The chef and his team were magnificent, the waiters and housekeeping staff wer also great.
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Quiet space and enough ship that you dont have to be near the loud/smoking/etc groups.
Cabins
It worked, a bit more space would have been good but its not a big boat and you dont spend much time in it.
Overall Rating

8 of 12 people found this review informative

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Comment by Castley, Southsea (02 Dec 11 17:56) about this REVIEW

We did the Star Flyer this time last year from Costa Rica to Panama and back and our experience was pretty much the same as you describe above. The food was lovely, the ship was small but we really enjoyed the complete change from larger ships. The stops we had were again as you've described - just beaches which were nice but their appeal is a little lost in the pouring rain... Perhaps we ought to try the Med??

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Comment by Richardson, Burgess Hill (06 Dec 11 10:03) about a COMMENT by Castley (02 Dec 11 17:56)

We sailed around the Greek Islands on Star Flyer a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely. It also had plenty of ports where we could go ashore - Paros, Rhodes, Hydra, Dalaman, etc., as well as some beach stops. Strongly recommended.

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