A plaque from Guinness World Records in the ship’s well appointed library makes it official. We’re cruising on the planet’s largest, fully rigged sailing ship.
The 135 metre long Royal Clipper, boasting five massive masts (the tallest of which soars 60 metres above the waterline) and 42 sails, carries up to 220 pampered passengers on a series of Mediterranean and Caribbean itineraries. The guests tend to be well travelled and wary of traditional cruise ships. Many are sailors themselves who crave the thrill of open seas and snapping lines aboard a truly special vessel.
Based on the 1902 design of the Preussen, the world’s first and fastest five-masted sailing ship, the Royal Clipper looks like it time-travelled from a century ago – including fake gunports along its white hull to scare off pirates. Once aboard, the brass and dark wood fittings throughout the ship, marine paintings, comfortable leather furniture in the public rooms along with complex rigging along the teak decks continue to evoke the pleasures and perils of life on a schooner many decades ago.
But the Royal Clipper is decidedly modern in many of its attributes. Built in 2000, it adds the luxury that cruise ship passengers now expect but without the crowds, casinos, bingo or in-your-face photographers. Instead, guests get the unique experience of slicing through seas under full sail while enjoying the spacious library, lounges and bars or sitting in a deck chair under billowing canvas – it’s actually Dacron – watching the well-trained crew trim the 5,000 square metres of sail.
The staterooms aboard Royal Clipper are spacious and comfortable with plenty of storage space and modern amenities like satellite television and excellent air conditioning. Most rooms have portholes, which just add to the sailing experience.
In the golden days of sail, schooners never had atriums but the designers of the Royal Clipper used their imagination to add a unique three-story foyer that opens up from the lower-level dining room to one of the three swimming pools on the top deck. What’s more, the pool has a glass bottom that allows the diffused light to filter into the dining area (breakfast and lunch are buffet-style while dinner is a more formal affair with an extensive menu and excellent service). Our open-seating table was usually directly below the swimming pool so we often thought of the damage a catastrophic leak would cause! The lower portholes were also reinforced against leaking. In fact, the well-equipped spa and gym are below water level so the viewing windows allow a look at underwater life or surging foam as the ship speeds along.
A special attraction of the Royal Clipper is its stern, which lowers to reveal a sports platform. There’s a roped off swimming area but the ship also carries kayaks, a Laser sailboat and equipment for snorkeling, SCUBA and water skiing. We enjoyed a couple of dips in the warm Mediterranean as the ship anchored near the Amalfi Coast and off Taormina, Sicily.
But getting to those ports is a highlight of any Clipper cruise. Once anchors are hoisted and sails begin to unfurl, the on-deck speakers begin playing the stirring music from the film, 1492. As “Conquest of Paradise” by Vangelis picks up its tempo, the Chief Mate, Julien Giroux of Montreal, calls out directions to the quartermaster at the big ship’s wheel and directs his crew to the appropriate pulleys and winches to maximize the impact of the breeze. It’s a routine that even frequent guests say gets to them emotionally every time.
This rousing beginning leads hours later to fascinating ports where efficient tenders take passengers to town centres or waiting busses. Our cruise sailed from Rome to southern Italy and Sicily with many memorably highlights. Chief among them were the Amalfi coast where homes and ancient ruins cling to steep, rocky cliffs. We took a bus along this narrow, precarious route where drivers need special skills and infinite patience. On Sicily we took a switchback road close to the 3300-metre summit of Mount Etna, Europe’s largest and most active volcano, where a cable car and giant, four-wheel drive Mercedes vans took us the rest of the way. With thin air and constant sulfur-laden smoke seeping from the volcano’s caldera and cracks in the ground, it was literally breathtaking. Off the northeast coast of Sicily, we visited another smoke-spewing volcanic island (appropriately named “Vulcano”) where hot, sulfuric mud baths attracted many for their supposedly beneficial effects. At night we passed the most northerly of these Aeolian Islands where the peak of Stromboli gave us the kind of fireworks show that’s been guiding and frightening mariners for centuries.
As we headed back towards Rome, Martha and Jim Gregg of San Francisco told us they were on their third Clipper cruise – the line also has two smaller sailing ships, Star Flyer and Star Clipper. “We like the sails and the small size of these ships,” they said. “Those floating hotels freak us out. We tried a regular cruise ship once and we’ll never do it again.”
Susan and Peter Zuker of Boston agree. “We’re not interested in any ship that doesn’t have sails,” they said. “We love visiting small ports where the big ships can’t go. On this ship you have the genuine feeling of being at sea. It’s like going back a hundred years…but with lots of extra pleasures.”
Photo Credits
©John Nowlan
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