It's all about those sails, dramatically unfurling one by one. There was mood lighting, there was stirring music and, for those of us gazing up at those huge masts scraping against the Caribbean splay of stars, it was - and this is going to sound goofy - kind of magical. The Royal Clipper's sail-away ceremony is genuinely moving - and I'm not talking about the boat.
That came later.
The first night was so rough, it was scary. I'd experienced rough seas before on overnight ferries, but this was roll-helplessly-from-side-to-side-of-your-bed rough. This was entire-contents-of-the-medicine-cabinet-spilling-onto-the-floor rough. This was sleep-with-your-life jacket-at-the-foot-of-your-bed rough. During our briefing the following morning, the captain's cheery call for a count of seasick passengers was met with several green-faced glowers.
Capt. Sergey Utitsyn summed up the experience succinctly. "This is a sailing ship," he said, a knowing twinkle in his eye and a thick Estonian accent on his tongue. "If it's not rolling, something is wrong." So it goes on the Royal Clipper, where Mother Nature, not the cruise director, is boss.
And for the most part, she complied.
In perfect, sunny, 75-degree weather, the Royal Clipper sailed with ease through the Lesser Antilles, gently escorting its passengers to the rain-forest-covered wilds of St. Lucia and Dominica.
Our shallow draft allowed us to anchor in the tiny harbor off Terre-de-Haut, an impossible stop for typical cruise ships with deeper drafts. There we spent an afternoon in the refreshingly untouristy seaside village of Le Bourg, brushing up on rusty French with patient locals.
We took Zodiac rides with the very young, very tan Scandinavian aquatic sports team to explore remote white-sand beaches on Antigua. And on the French island of Martinique, in Fort de France, our most populated port town, I stocked up on lingerie at a satellite location of Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette while several of my shipmates stayed on board, spoiled by the smaller ports leading up to it.
Besides, most of them had been there before. About 60 percent of the Royal Clipper's passengers are repeat customers.
