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Royal clipper review9/17/2023 ![]() ![]() Unlike large ships, Royal Clipper is very inclusive, and officers and crew mingle with passengers throughout the day and guests are welcome to go on the bridge during daylight hours to chat and ask questions.įor the entire trip, and with a visibility of 30 miles to the horizon, we only saw a handful of vast container ships passing in the distance along with four plucky souls crossing the Atlantic on a yacht. Flagship Royal Clipper holds the Guinness record as the world’s largest square rigger in service and with 5,202 square metres of sails spread across five masts this classic ship powered solely by wind whenever possible.Įach day, dot on noon, three bells would sound and Captain Mariusz Szalek updated us on the progress of our 16-day 3,131 nautical mile voyage that took us from Bridgetown, Barbados, to Lisbon in Portugal, with just one stop in the Azores. It was all a world away from the stereotypical image of a transatlantic crossing, where thousands of passengers gather on mighty cruise ships to dress up in their best bib and tuckers, dine at multiple restaurants, dance the night away in glittering ballrooms, gamble and watch West End-style shows.įor people who aren’t big on ‘regular’ cruising and adore sailing or harbour a romantic notion to fleetingly run away to sea on magnificent tall ship then Royal Clipper will tick all their seafaring boxes and more.Ĭarrying just 227 passengers, and with a crew of 106, the vessel is part of the three-strong Star Clippers’ fleet which replicate the golden age of sailing with modern day comforts. It was probably no surprise we slept so well that night rocked to sleep in our cosy cabin decked out in gleaming wood and brass and with the spray of the Atlantic Ocean washing over the porthole. ![]() That night we gathered in the al fresco Tropical Bar to continue celebrating our success and deluding ourselves that we were easing any aching muscles with the aid of a Pain Killer, a potent cocktail of rum, brandy, orange juice, coconut cream and nutmeg. ![]() With another team completing the task in more than double our time, we were duly rewarded with a chocolate cake for coming second in a seafaring Olympic Games that also saw us hunting for spoons in the swimming pool, running around the swabbed teak decks in an egg and spoon race and holding aloft bottles of water for as long as we could. It was an awe-inspiring moment to see the staysail gently unfurl and exactly 1 minute and 33 seconds later start picking up the trade winds and propel the ship forward. Above the sound of the waves our team leader shouted that we needed to pull on the ‘ho’ rather than the ‘heave’ so we regrouped and seconds later were rewarded with the sight of one of Royal Clipper’s 42 sails responding to our efforts. With a collective ‘heave ho’ we tugged on the stout rope in a disjointed fashion and staggered backwards on the gently rolling deck when nothing happened. All at sea on a tall ship bound from Barbados to Lisbon ![]()
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