FredT

The previous poster sums up my feelings precisely. I HAVE had the pleasure of stepping in the feces of a dog on the elevator of a cruise ship. The same little monster than sat on his owners lap in the MDR, (being fed table scraps by "Mommy") and was left to bark all day in their stateroom while his owner was on a shore excursion.

Managements comment to the many complaints? "She has the paperwork, nothing we can legally do".

It's gonna come to a head sooner rather than later folks.....

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I think this is what you are looking at......

If you have ever taken a cruise in that area you would recognize the fishing fleets. Hundreds of boats, each with dozens of lights on their masts and at the end of net poles. For some reason different nationalities use different colors. It absolutely mesmerizes me every time we come across them.

Hey Southern Spirit:

Another tidbit (if you have not already left):

Make sure the credit card you use to give the ship is one that does NOT charge foreign transaction fees. Everything is in Euro's, (Which is a GOOD thing with the current exchange rates... Beer for $3.50, mixed drinks for $5.00) but why pay another 2-3% if you dont have to!

Taxi's take US, no problem.

Yes you can climb the mast... and yes, harness is required. (But not to go out on the bow sprint, which I feel is even MORE of a thrill!)

At least on the Grenadines trip US dollars were accepted everywhere. (For sure US dollars are accepted in Barbados.) If you are staying at the Accara, you are right on the beach, and the Boardwalk starts right to the right side of the Hotel. Couple of good restaurants down that way, and another right across the street ( Swag)

Dont know your preferences, but 2 days to unwind and decompress was fine by the pool and at the beach. We did not find a real "need" to go anywhere.

Southern Spirit:

Actually we just got off the ship doing the Grenadines, so only St Lucia and Martinique overlap. We mostly wandered on our own at each stop so I can address that.

At St Lucia (Marigot Bay) you will be dropped off at a Marina. Beautiful scenery, lots of yachts/mega yachts, but little else of interest. The most talked about shore excursion seemed to be horseback riding. (If you are a horse person)

In Soufriere we did a cruise exc, to the Pintons. Typical cruise excursion, nothing special.

Martinique was also two stops, in Fort de France, and a beach stop. Fort de France is probably the most "developed" port you will visit, with lots of shopping, and busy roads. (Wander in a few blocks from the dock for a busy town center, and a nice park and ruins a bit further in.) a fun and busy port city. This is the only port we visited where there were NO cabbies and guides vying for you business.

The "beach stop" is also pretty good, nice beach (and being typically French, lots of topless sunbathing) but not much else to see. Some also said that to the far left side of the beach was some fair snorkling, but we did not try.

Have never seen a roll call for Star Clippers. But we just got off of her on Saturday, so if we can answer any questions, ask away.

PS:... In all of our years of cruising we found the passengers on this cruise the MOST laid back, fun, and approachable we have encountered... Enjoy!

Post script...

Yes we did see the Superbowl. Star Clippers went WAY out of their way to get the channel, and about 30 of us gathered in the library to watch the game while under full sail in the Grenadines... A magical night.

Have spent the past 3 superbowls on HAL ships... Dont worry, they do it right.

Now.......... You can feel sorry for ME. We are going to be on the Royal Clipper this Superbowl.... No TV coverage.... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

Now another question:

If you are paying all that money (and spending all that time) to go around the horn... Why NOT pick an itinerary that may add a couple days in and add Antarctica to the trip?

Face facts here, you will most probably NEVER go back that way, its one of the top "unique" destinations in the world, and frankly makes Alaska look like a swimming pool.... (And both HAL and NCL do Antarctica ) As well, if you do add that, both also throw in the Falklands. (THE absolute best place on earth to get up close and personal with the penguins!)

Just my humble opinion......

Need more information...

Whats your age?

Traveling with kids?

Can you entertain yourself or do you like to be entertained? (Rephrase that... Do you LIKE to entertain yourself or do you LIKE shipboard entertainment?)

Do you like large ships or small(er)

How many ports does each line have on your itinerary? (Is THAT important to you?)

My wife is gonna kill me..... :D

Linda Howard... Burn

Yes she is a "romance novelist" but it's a fun book all the same.

I've been on NCL, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity during playoffs and super bowl and always the game was shown on the ship, I think one time it was even on the room TV

 

 

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Oh, trust me JayJay, I have watched MANY a superbowl on cruise liners over the years (Jan to Feb the only months we can cruise due to work)

What I DONT know is if Star Clippers have TV for this sort of event.....

Back to the OP's original question... While it's been about 6 years since we've been to Tortola, I would say that it's one of the LEAST "pushy" places in the Caribbean. We always looked at it as one of the "upscale" British colonies...

In my opinion, the only ports with really pushy vendors are the Bahamas and Jamaica... (But thats just MY opinion! :cool: )

We had one lady who was freaking out that we were going to be late getting back and we hadn't even left on the tour yet. And yes, we did leave as scheduled and got back in plenty of time.

You are a better person that I am... :D

On a recent cruise to the far east we had a similar lady on a private tour. Took me all of 10 minutes to tell her to either go back to the ship or quit bitching... The other 6 of us were enjoying ourselves .

Worked too!

Well, While we are not fanatical, both my wife and I enjoy a good football game... AND "our" team stands a good chance of making the Superbowl this year...

So I have to ask. "Any chance of this game being played anywhere on the Royal Clipper on February 5"? (Port of call is "The best of the Grenadines")

If not, a small price to pay for the trip... but if so it would certainly be the icing on the cake! :D

We are on the same trip a couple of weeks out... So please (PLEASE) take a moment when you get back to post your observations... Like you we are getting REALLY excited!

Hapag LLoyd Cruise lines runs a single cruise from Alaska, up over the top of Russia and down to Bergen about once ever OTHER year... Even more than a Northwest passage trip (My close second choice that Hapag LLoyd also does) this is my dream cruise...

NEVER the same day..... Just not worth even the small possibility of missing your vacation. Even if it's not a weather issue, there is always the possibility of a mechanical, a computer problem with the airline/FAA, some nutcase (think Ft Lauderdale) or even just some nutcase who gets in a fight on the plane and screw things up.

Nope.

1. Some time ago the Louis Diamond sank off Santorini - in warm water, near shore. At first it was thought that 2 passengers had died. Then it was discovered that they were pulling an insurance scam. They are now alive and well in a prison in Eastern Europe. No fatalities. So far so good.

 

2. Then there was the Costa Concordia. She ran aground and capsized in shallow (warm) water, near the coast of Italy. Over 30 people died. This was terrible - but none of them died from exposure.

 

That's it. With hundreds of millions of passengers over 60 years, just over 30 people died on one sinking cruise ship. If those 30 or so people had been wearing immersion suits, they would still have died, trapped below decks.

Bruce... Dont forget the HAL Princendam, sinking off the coast of Alaska in 1980... About as remote as you could get, (and a fire to boot) and still, no fatalities,... and no survival suits!

So... Planes are REALLY reliable right? And your weather in May is pretty benign right? But where is your plane coming from BEFORE Birmingham ? Maybe NYC with its horrible delays? Or the midwest with it's unpredictable weather?

At WORST, I'd get a late evening flight the night before (After work??) and stay at one of the hotels at the Orlando airport. Cost you about $100.00 which is cheap insurance in my mind!

Layers... (and layers... and layers)

You start off in their summer in SA..... Can be hot as hell, then it gets cooler and cooler and cooler. So unless you wint to pack a LOT of suitcases, the answer is:...... Layers.

Never needed boots, even tromping around the boonies (Volunteer Point) at Port Stanley.