Star Clipper 26 Sept Les Voiles de St Tropez

[Mrs Miggins]

Just booked this cruise. We did Royal Clipper Rome - Rome last June and I am hoping this cruise will be just as good.

Interested to learn whether we will notice a big difference on this smaller ship? We are looking forward to this cruise and to end it in St Tropez when they are having their fantastic annual regatta will be splendid. We have seen the regatta before from Azamara and it is a lovely sight.

[AweighToSea]

Hi Mrs Muggings. We too have signed up for this sailing. This will be our first time on a Star Clipper and very much looking forward to it.

 

Seems like many Star Clipper pax are repeaters such as yourself , that is a good sign, they seem to have many fans. Hope to hear of your experiences.

 

We have cruised a few times, Oceania mostly with a Celebrity and a short NCL and sailed on sailboats but nothing so amazing as this Star Clipper. Very excited.

 

We have only once been to Marseille on an O cruise port day and visited Aix en Provence. Wonderful day and much looking forward to visiting Provence pre-cruise for perhaps a week or so. We're still in the initial investigating stage.

[Mrs Miggins]

Hi, I am sure you will have a great time. Have been on Oceania but prefer Azamara (plus RCCL, Celebrity etc when we had a teenager with us) but probably our favourite cruise was on Royal Clipper last June.

However it is a very different experience to a regular cruise. Certainly very little entertainment. We had one guy who played guitar, piano sometimes, and played some disco. he also played in a scratch band with crew members. Plus we had some 'folk' dancers come on board. The crew show was great fun but very very amateur plus a couple of hotly contested quizzes

Passengers were mixed and from US, Canada, Germany, Australia and UK. We were lucky enough to have some very entertaining dinner companions.

We are flying out from the UK the week before and after making some enquiries on the France ports of call board we are staying for 5 days in St Remy de Provence, visiting the surrounding areas, not quite sure what we will do for the other 2 days. We have also visited Aix from Marseilles and loved it.

If you are sailors you will love the Regatta in St Tropez. We are not sailors but enjoyed it tremendously nevertheless. We have cruised extensively in the Med but have only been to Ajaccio in Corsica.

This board will be very quiet so any questions do not hesitate to ask.

Pam

[AweighToSea]

Sailors. Hmmm, we did pass our required basic sailing course on a 5 day live aboard on 32' sailboat a few years back so in theory, we are qualified to charter bare boat. That said, while I love to sail I get sea sick, so not too much of a sailor . Won't stop me though!

 

We are planning a week in Provence before the cruise too. First night in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue so we can visit the market Sunday morning, as we push through our jet lag. Then to Avignon for a few days to also visit Pont du Gard (perhaps kayak the river), Nimes, and a guided wine tour. Then thinking of a couple of nights in Arles and day trips to Les Baux and St. Remy - maybe will run into you.

We will wind up with a few nights in Nice, perhaps a train trip into the country.

 

Would love to spend more time but DH is already pushing the limit for time allowed off from work.

[AweighToSea]

Flights booked, added one more day at the start. Always try to do too much so now will spend the first night in Marseille before heading further.

 

Pam, having sailed with them before and looking at our itinerary do you think there will be much 'water' time for swimming? I know it is not the Caribbean and not mid summer but hoping to get wet

Edited April 28, 2015 by AweighToSea

[Mrs Miggins]

When we were on Royal Clipper last year the swimming platform was down for several hours each day when we were not docked. Many people did swim and kayak and the water was cold but not freezing - that was in early June. The Med may have warmed up by late September !

[AweighToSea]

It was Royal Clipper's swimming platform that put me over the top for sailing with SC. But even without it I am very much looking forward to our first cruise on these wonderful ships.

 

Mostly done all our planning. We have one more hotel to confirm and to work out a 'plan B' for our train from Arles to Cannes on Sep 26th. The train times are okay just DH is worried how to work around a last minute strike which I hear is always possible with the trains there. Might buy a mobile phone for use in France in case we have to make last emergency minute calls for alternatives.

[Mrs Miggins]

Looking forward to a great cruise. Still not sure what to do for the final couple of days before we embark. We want to move back towards Cannes but difficult to choose a location or a hotel. It's a lovely part of the world and the Ports of Call board is very helpful. May revisit to ask for recommendations.

We tried to change our London - Nice outward flight and change to the train option from London but the costs to cancel one part of a return flight were astronomic. Cheaper just to cancel the round trip and rebook the return but we decided too much hassle. We hope to try the train to Avignon another time.

 

We have been to Cannes several times on cruises but have always tendered - not sure quite where the dock location will be. We will have a longish drive from Nice on the first day and hope to be awake in time to visit the market in Isle sur la Sorgue. If not we will go on Thursday before travelling west. I think the market is much smaller but we may find it easier to find parking.

 

Hope you get to do some kayaking. I didnt realise that there was no swimming platform on our ship but I am sure there will be several opportunities on our stops in Corsica.

[Mrs Miggins]

I meant before driving East of course, otherwise would end in Spain.

We have decided to take our SatNav !

[AweighToSea]

I can't believe how long it has been since we last posted!

Hope you are well and your plans in place.

We've paid final and our pre-cruise week was all arranged except for the train from Arles to Cannes. We could not book earlier because the booking window was not yet available. We faked a booking based on June dates, another shoulder month, but were very disappointed to now find that the trip we wanted is not available in Sept.

 

Plus, DH found that on our current plan we will just miss the end of the bull fighting season celebrations in Nimes. Ends on Sep 21st and sounds like a lot of fun with street bands and bodegas.

 

Now looking at changing everything around to start at Arles and end in Avignon before travelling to Cannes.

[Mrs Miggins]

Just back from a week in Nerja Spain visiting friends. Lovely but very hot ! Havent checked on this site for a while but I see that it is still very quiet.

We are confirmed booked in St Remy for 5 days and now have booked final 2 nights of our pre cruise week in St Paul de Vence.

Thank you for the heads up on Nimes. It looks a fabulous place to visit. We will certainly go as part of our days out from St Remy. Must now do some serious planning. Sadly we won't be able to visit all the beautiful places in the area but looking forward to a great two weeks.

[AweighToSea]

Five nights in St. Remy sounds fabulous! What a great touring base. We will only visit it for a day trip from Arles (via bus or train-have to get the final planning done!)where we will spend the last couple of days before taking the train to Cannes to join the cruise.

 

We plan to spend three nights in Nice post cruise. Was thinking of taking the train part way to Digne les Baines with the steam train segment but they no longer take on-line bookings so maybe will have to look into a plan B.

 

Just struck us that the trip is coming up so very soon. Yikes! So much to do.

 

Are you all set?

[Mrs Miggins]

We returned yesterday from the Greek Island of Kos where my daughter is working for the summer season until the end of October. Took a map and guide book of Provence with us and have read up on a few of the places we want to visit. Problem is deciding which ones as they all look fabulous but we only have a week. We will have a car but have no real idea about how long it will take to drive to the various destinations. I suspect we will be sidetracked by many cafes, lovely villages and lots of good food along the way.

We have been to Aix before and it is lovely so would recommend that.

Just unpacked my suitcase and realised I only wore less than half of what I took so I aim to pack lightly - fortunately the Star Clipper will be very informal - so that makes things easier.

We hope for fine weather and look forward to meeting up and sharing our Provence stories. We are in cabin 307.

Pam and Mike

[AweighToSea]

How very interesting your daughter working on Kos. Hope you had a great visit.

 

Travelling light is our goal, especially as we will be lugging luggage on and off trains, but such a challenge with multi-purpose trips.

 

307 was on our short list. Don't recall why we did not book it as it seems very good. Perhaps you already had it booked. I do generally prefer aft if not amidships as I am prone to sea sickness. We are in one of the odd shaped trapezoidal cabins, 334 I believe; perhaps a teeny bit more floor space.

 

DH is getting very excited. Final bits of planning. More correctly actually finishing all the many plans considered and getting things scheduled / booked. Time seems to move so slowly then too fast.

 

I'm taking much of this week away with my sisters and twin 3 Y.O. nieces to stay at a beach house on one of the local islands. Packed now and off to the ferry in the morning. Hopefully all planning will be completed on my return

 

Looking forward to meeting with you as well and hearing of your travels.

[AweighToSea]

Back from our stay in a 'cottage by the sea'. Fabulous visit with sisters, niece and the twin 3 y.o. great nieces. Walks on the beach, sea otters, deer, seals ... and easy hikes in the forest.

 

Now back to reality and so much to do before leaving on Thursday.

 

Safe and happy travels

[Mrs Miggins]

Have a safe journey. We leave on Saturday morning and of course from London its only a short flight to Nice so no jet lag . We pick up our hire car and drive to St Remy. Looking forward to a lovely week of eating and drinking combined with some light sightseeing. Mike's limping at the moment so I may leave him in a local hostelry and run round everything thats uphill.

I hope you have a great week. We have used busses and trains in the area on port stops and have had excellent experiences. Driving may be a little more stressful but we hope the French will be tolerant.

We met some interesting people last year on the Royal Clipper and we look forward to meeting more.

See you soon.

Pam and Mike.