Sassy Chassis

Well, I can state that the passengers seemed to follow the stated dress code for Amphora. I believe we ended up only eating in the restaurant twice! We had Candles twice, the deck bbq, the motu event, and ate at Bloody Mary’s. It was an incredible trip! 

milepig - the Pearl Beach is still very nice, but the service was slow at times (restaurant)

We watched the Wind Spirit coming into the port of Papeete this morning (thanks jet lag!) from our balcony at the Tahiti Pearl Beach Resort. Boarding begins at one pm today and I will be happy to report back in one week as to my Fashion Findings. 

I have seen drone footage (you-tube) from folks who went on Windstar Cruises. Somehow they were able to sneak it onboard??

1 hour ago, O2B@Cagain said:

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It's interesting that women rarely have the dressing down problem that men have.

 

 

Yep, it’s easy with sundresses and sandals and they don’t take up much room in the suitcase. My husband goes for the Tommy Bahama type button up shirt with khakis and his casual shoes. 

I dress “nicely” for dinner, not because I want to “impress other people” (yikes ), but because going on vacation with my husband is like having a week (or more) of date nights all in a row and I want to look nice for him. Thank goodness we ladies only have to bring sundresses and not ball gowns!  

We are Go for PPT in two days!!!

Sounds wonderful!  We will be in your cabin #205 in 13 more days... I can’t wait 

We were sailing the Leewards (on Star Clippers) Christmas week and there was quite a bit of wind/choppy water/swells. It was the roughest water I have been on, but it was a great experience too!

We are just back from our christmas cruise with Star Clipper. Peter is actual as cruise director on board. We enjoyed him and the whole cruise and are happy to have already booked our next cruise on Star Clipper for August 2016.

Well then, you must have been on the same cruise as me! :D

Good to hear as we shall be seeing her soon.

Don't you have to walk outside on the deck to get to the dining room with those cabins? What does one do in rough seas or inclement weather?

Getting wet. (Another part of the fun.)

 

Four Weeks until Star Clipper... :-)

You just roll with it! I always take a packable rain jacket just in case.

I know this type of cruising isn't for everyone, but we like it BECAUSE it is not standard, Big Boat cruising. It's a sailing ship!

And yeah, we do spend a lot of time on deck... at the Tropical Bar, mojitos in hand. :D

Let us know how that Sun Deck cabin compares to Main Deck. We have not been inside one of those and were curious about the layout and the proximity to the back pool.

Bon Voyage!

We had a category 1 on the Main Deck on Star Flyer last time. It was great and I loved the "big" bathroom with a tub compared to the tiny showers in the other rooms. I would say Go For It!

*also, we are booked again in Cat 1, Main Deck

What everyone said above!

It is a very casual experience on Star Clippers. Daytime is very informal and at night there are no shorts in the dining room. That being stated, MOST of the passengers still are more dressy-casual, with men in collared shirts and women in dresses.

Captain's night is a touch more elegant, but not "tux & gown" dressy. ;)

Hi,

 

Our September cruise on Royal Clipper also starts in Venice and our flight (arranged by Star Clippers) will arrive late morning/noon, so we expect our transfer (also arranged by Star Clippers) to get us to the ship early afternoon. Therefore I have the same concerns. It won't be a good start to an expensive (for us) holiday if we have to spend a few hours guarding our luggage. I am hoping that we will be able to check it in and, as a minimum, go off in search of lunch. I believe Royal Clipper uses a very small port area in Venice, so please can someone advise?

 

If nobody knows the answer now, maybe Lemailu could post an answer on here after the friend has returned from her cruise? It would be most appreciated. If it's not good news, at least we'll be prepared.

 

Many thanks.

Hopefully they have a place to hold your luggage at the port.

In Monaco they tagged our bags and put them in the holding area in the back and we were free to go sight-see until it was time to start the embarkation process.

Am writing on behalf of my friend (she doesn't speak any English). She will be on Royal Clipper sailing from Venice on July 23rd. She also had an early flight in and transfer from airport to vessel.

 

Is there any sort of comfortable place to wait/have a drink/some food even while waiting for check-in to start at 4 pm?

 

The brochure she received states that water, tea and coffee are free. I read on this forum that there is some water and coffee/tea available near the tropical bar. Does this mean no water offered at lunch/dinner and no coffee?

 

Thank you.

I don't know the specifics for her embarkation point, but there has always been some sort of refreshments (provided by Star Clippers) at the port during the check-in process. I have embarked in French Polynesia (Papeete), Costa Rica, and now in Monaco, and they have provided water bottles and fruit at the minimum.

Once onboard there is water available at/near the Tropical Bar and a coffee/tea station available 24/7. In the dining room they will bring you water, coffee and tea upon request. At breakfast there are also several juices to choose from.

She should have no problems, really! :)

You will be fine in your maxi dresses! Have fun :)

I don't know what line you are on, but I was just there for embarkation with the Star Flyer (sailing ship) and it was easy-peasy. We had our driver take us from Nice to Monte Carlo and we drove straight up to the port, got out, dropped our bags early, and were able to do the hop-on/hop-off bus which picked up a few meters down the dock. I would show you some photos, but have yet to get them off my camera. The side we were on was very small and very easy to get around. There was seating inside of the terminal, an information desk (get the Monte Carlo booklet for discounts!!), some vending machines, and toilettes.

Of course, YMMV if you are not on the same side of the port where the Star Flyer docks!;)

Just wanted to insert a few lines regarding the cruise. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer to the best of my ability.

First off, we had a wonderful flight over and a lovely stay in Nice beforehand. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

We had planned on taking the train from Nice to Monte Carlo, but there was a strike going on and some of the trains were not running. There was a later train in the day, but we decided to just hire a car to take us instead. This amounted to 90 Euros, but worth it IMO. We dropped our bags off at the port REALLY EARLY, but no big deal to them. We then walked down the pier to the HO/HO bus stop and got on for a tour around the city. We got back to the port around embarkation time and ended up being the 3rd (?) people to actually set foot on the ship. Got the grand greetings from Captain and Hotel Director (who told me I would be receiving a medal for my cruises LOL :D), got our Welcome Aboard Punch, and headed straight for the Tropical Bar!

We had plenty of wind on our trip, so we did get to do a bit of sailing. Sometimes the tenders were a bit tricky, as the water was a bit choppy. We ended up skipping the beach day in St. Tropez due to water conditions and sailed to the port of St. Tropez instead. I think we did the photo tender on the first day. It took me by surprise and I ran out and got on the second tender boat, which thankfully was not very full.

Our sailing was not at capacity, only about 90 passengers or so. They announced that there were cabins to upgrade to so we thought we would check it out. Ended up getting into a category 1 and now we are spoiled because of the BATHROOM situation. No more getting frisky with the shower curtain ;)

There was a Captain's reception for repeat guests (with lots of bubbly!) and gifts in our stateroom. We must have made some kind of an impression because we received an invite for the Captain's Dinner. Such a wonderful man to talk to! There was steak and lobster on the menu this night and I opted for the lobster. It was very good, IMO.

Of course, lots of silly time with the Sports Team (woooo!) playing games and whatnot. There was a musician who played music at night and of course the "fashion show" and the "talent show" were funny. My husband and I got wrangled into participating in the Pirate Night Shenanigans and I won my "frog" race. :cool:

We had a mix of passengers from France, Germany, Italy, UK, Canada, and US. Monja the cruise director did announcements in English, German, and French.... and sometimes in Italian too!

Just FYI, if you are cruising to Bonifacio DON'T MISS seeing the straights as you are coming in/going out. SO BEAUTIFUL!! :)

Thanks, Gail!

We will be coming into Nice, staying overnight, and then taking the train to Monte Carlo. I'm not planning to take a large suitcase, as I don't want to be heavily burdened on the train. My husband however... well, he can schlep his own bag ;)

How early do you think we can drop our bags at the port? I would really like to spend some time in Monte Carlo before we sail away. The Oceanographic Museum sounds like something we would be interested in seeing. I know there is also a Hop-On/Hop-Off bus that can take us around town too.

I will definitely throw in some long pants/long sleeves just in case we run into those winds you were talking about!! :eek:

Karen

My cruise docs came today! Now it's official :D

Thanks Gail! Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

I don't usually (ever) travel in the summer, so this is new for me.

Luckily we had some frequent flier miles to burn...every little bit helps :)

Just booked this with the Special Price offer from SC on the categories 2-6.

Is anyone else going?

Also, who has sailed out of Monte Carlo before? Anything in particular to know about that port?

We are going in early to Nice for an overnight stay and then to Monaco on Saturday by train. :)

I would avoid class 5 cabins. These are at the extreme front and rear and have a fixed bed which is over 3 feet off the ground - in fairness, this fact is indicated on the deck plan. A fixed ladder is provided to get in and out but this is at the foot of the bed, you have to crawl up the bed to get into it!

Hey now, I actually LIKE the Cat 5s with the fixed, raised doubles. I have sailed in them twice. I thought they were "fun" and I loved the extra-large storage space underneath the bed. :p

This time around we are going for a Cat 2, so I will have to do some comparisons.

Yesterday was my daughter's turn to get her outfits for the cruise! We went to Forever 21, Aeropostale, Charming Charlie and then Macy's.

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Love Charming Charlies! I ended up getting a couple of necklace and earring sets from them to go with the [new] dresses I took on my last cruise. I found that they had lovely nautically-themed items in both orange-coral hues and blue-turquoise hues. They looked perfect with my outfits! :)

Awwww! My first ever cruise was on Vision. It is wonderful to see your photos of her. She is looking pretty good for her age :)