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Imagine going on a cruise…and finding it full of people who hate cruises. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? And yet that’s exactly what I experienced on my first cruise with Star Clippers, a weeklong Caribbean adventure aboard the Royal Clipper.
It began on embarkation day in Barbados. We were standing on the Sun Deck, gazing up at the Royal Clipper’s five towering masts, when one of our fellow passengers nodded toward two massive cruise ships in the harbor. “Aren’t you glad we’re not on one of those?”
“We are SO glad we’re not on one of those!” I laughed.
This moment repeated itself again and again throughout the trip. Even when a medium-sized cruise ship popped up somewhere, someone would inevitably point to it and say, “Boy, am I glad I’m on this ship instead.”
I’ve done one large cruise before, and while I had fun, I knew the whole time that large ship cruising is not my thing. But I’ve done two small ship cruises before — to Antarctica in 2018 and to Eastern Canada in 2019 — and I learned that small ship cruising is VERY much my thing.
Cruising on small ships means you’re able to visit tough-to-reach places. You’re unlikely to experience crowds anywhere. It’s much easier to get to know your fellow passengers, and the atmosphere is much quieter and more intimate.
For years, I’ve been wanting to try a small ship cruise in the Caribbean, especially one that visits tiny, hard-to-reach islands inaccessible to big cruise ships. And in my research I found Star Clippers, with their three stunning tall ships and their Grenadines itinerary.
I reached out to Star Clippers and they generously offered to host me and Charlie on their weeklong cruise. I gave them plenty of feedback on our experience, and you’ll find that honesty reflected in this detailed review.
This post was published in February 2026, and our trip took place in December 2025.
What I soon learned was that the Royal Clipper is the main character of the trip. THIS is why people book these trips! They are in love with the ship and how it makes you feel.
In 2001, the Guinness Book of World Records certified the Royal Clipper as the world’s largest square rigger in service.
The Royal Clipper is the largest of Star Clippers’ three ships, with a capacity of 230 passengers; we had 199 passengers on our trip.
And that small size makes a big difference. You don’t have to deal with some of the drawbacks of large ship cruises — fighting for deck chairs, endless corridors, crowded excursions led by umbrella-waving guides.
One important thing to know is that the Royal Clipper is not designed for the same level of accessibility as large cruise ships. Many disabled travelers choose large cruises for their elevators, wide corridors, and step-free access throughout the ship, but the Royal Clipper is not built that way.
There are no elevators on board, and many of the staircases are steep. Some of the doorways involve holding two doors open in different directions while stepping over a threshold step, which even I found challenging.
Additionally, many of the doors are heavy (I caught my finger in the bathroom door one night), and going ashore requires walking down gangway steps and climbing into a tender rather than stepping or rolling onto a pier.
For that reason, I don’t recommend cruising with Star Clippers if you have mobility challenges. The ship is beautiful and the experience is unique, but accessibility is not its strong point.
That said, if you ARE comfortable with stairs, uneven surfaces, and an active ship environment, the Royal Clipper offers experiences you will never in a million years find on a large cruise ship.
Here are a few of the ways you can enjoy this tall ship environment.
One special thing that Star Clippers offers is a chance to climb the mast to the crow’s nest. (Me: “There aren’t…laws against this?”) As soon as I learned this was a thing, I knew I had to take part!
Mast climbing is usually offered two times during the journey; it was offered four times on ours, only when the ship was anchored. Around five people go up at a time. You put your camera in a sealed bag on your back, put on a harness, clip yourself in, and climb the rope ladder to the crow’s nest.
From the crow’s nest, you have panoramic views of the ship and whatever islands are in the distance. Once you’re up there, you can take your camera out and take as many photos as you’d like before going down again.
Was this scary? There are times that I don’t love heights, but I didn’t think this was scary at all! My harness was secure and the experience felt well-managed. Overall, the exhilaration was well worth it.
(Another thing: a lot of photos in this post were taken with my Insta360 camera. I absolutely LOVE traveling with this camera, but I think it’s at its very best on ships and boats. You can get so much more out of a selfie with a 360 camera than your phone.)
But my absolute favorite activity onboard was swimming off the marina platform in the back of the ship. The sports team opens the platform on occasion while the ship is anchored.
The crew puts out a rope attached to several floating rafts, and you can dive in the water, take a nice swim, or just lie on the rafts and float away. Either way, the highlight is getting to take in views of the Royal Clipper as you swim.
Just being in the sea and looking upward at that spectacular ship — the masts, the lines, the gold lettering on the bright blue — is an experience. You belong on that ship.
I had two swim sessions — one in Martinique and one in St. Lucia — and they were SO full of joy. Especially in St. Lucia, because we had a magical setting with panoramic views of the Pitons.
If you’re comfortable swimming in deep water, I highly recommend you make time for at least one swim off the Royal Clipper.
And on the final day of your sailing, if conditions are good, you’ll get to take part in the photo safari! The crew gathers people into the tenders and you slowly circle the Royal Clipper as it raises the sails.
Our photo safari took place in Soufrière, St. Lucia, with the Pitons rising dramatically in the background. This was the most beautiful place we visited over the past week, and getting to photograph the most beautiful ship against such an iconic backdrop, bathed in golden Caribbean light, felt like a gift.
Everyone on board was in a great mood, and it was the perfect way to commemorate our beautiful week sailing through the Caribbean. I brought my big Sony camera, my iPhone, my Insta360 camera, and my Osmo Pocket 3 video camera, and I used them all nonstop.
One big difference from a traditional mega ship is that cabins on the Royal Clipper are on the smaller side, and only a few have balconies. I know a lot of people are serious about their balconies, to the point that they wouldn’t go on a cruise without one, but again, the Royal Clipper isn’t a typical kind of cruise.
Our Category 2 cabin had a double bed with one side against the wall, a chair, and a small desk. There was ample storage space for our suitcases under the bed, and we had enough drawers for all our clothing. Housekeeping is excellent, and cabin stewards clean your cabin twice per day.
Practical tip: be careful with the reading lamps above the bed. They can be opened and adjusted into different positions, but the default position is right where you put your head, and cabin stewards reset them into this position after cleaning your cabin. I hit my head on those metal, angular lamps more than once.
Our bathroom was small but functional, with everything we needed, including soap, shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner.
One thing about the bathroom is that the floor can get QUITE wet, especially if you shower while the ship is sailing, but sometimes even when it isn’t. I suggested to Star Clippers that they add a squeegee to each cabin — it would make it so easy to sweep up all that water after showering.
I definitely appreciated the amount of bathroom storage space — especially once I realized the mirror was a vanity that opened and kept things securely behind it!
The ship uses European electrical outlets throughout, so bring an adapter if you need one.
If you’re looking for a place to hang on the Royal Clipper, you have a few options. The Sun Deck is home to three swimming pools, lots of beach loungers and umbrellas, a bar, and lots of places to hang out and take in the views.
The next deck is the Main Deck. Here you’ll find the Tropical Bar, which feels like the main hanging-out spot on the ship, which is covered but has open sides.
There is also a small library, which is nice and quiet and has a selection of books in many languages, and the Piano Bar. There is an observation lounge, which was the meeting space of one of the charter groups on our sailing, and there are a handful of cabins.
The next deck is the Clipper Deck. This deck is mostly full of cabins, including ours. There is also the Sloop Shop, selling a variety of Star Clippers-themed clothing and some small souvenirs, and the Excursion Desk, where you can sign up for excursions.
The next deck is the Commodore Deck, where you’ll find the dining room and more cabins. On the end of the ship, you’ll find the marina platform (swim platform).
And one floor further down, you’ll find the Captain Nemo gym, lounge, and spa. The gym has a few cardio machines and some free weights; the spa has a hammam.
On our trip, most of the guests were from the US or UK, with a smattering of other countries represented. We met a few German speakers, and our cruise director Monja did the announcements in English and German. The literature we received each day was in English, German, and French.
Age-wise, most guests were between age 55 and 75. However, people tended to be in decent shape, as you need to be able to climb a lot of stairs and hold heavy doors in order to navigate the Royal Clipper.
There were a handful of younger people on board. Some were traveling with their parents or families; there were a few younger couples and friend groups as well. Charlie and I ended up bonding with two of the younger couples, one from the US and one from the UK, and the six of us “young’uns” hung out a lot!
Are kids allowed on Star Clippers? They’re technically allowed from the age of six months, but there are zero child-centric facilities on board, so it’s not a popular choice for young families.
As for diversity, I’m sure there were plenty of queer people on board, but I didn’t notice any queer couples, and you could count the people of color on one hand.
You should also know that some of your passengers may be part of an outside group. As we embarked, we learned that an American Bible study group made up a good percentage of our fellow passengers.
Now, I’ll be honest — when I first heard this, I was a bit apprehensive. I wondered whether having a religious group on board might affect the overall vibe of the ship.
Honestly, it didn’t affect the vibe whatsoever. Everyone was friendly, respectful, and entirely nonjudgmental. In fact, the two best friends we made on the ship were part of the Bible study group! It was a good reminder not to make assumptions.
Overall, I found the passengers on the Royal Clipper to be interesting, well-traveled, and great conversationalists. I always say that no matter where you go around the world, 98% of people are wonderful and the other 2% are not, and that was certainly true on our journey.
Now, one of the most important aspects of any trip is the food, and this is where Star Clippers shines. We found the food to be excellent across the board.
Star Clippers serves three meals per day. There is a breakfast buffet from around 7:30-9:30 AM, a themed lunch buffet from around 12:00-2:00 PM, and a plated multi-course dinner in the evenings from 7:30-10:00 PM.
In addition to the three main meals, they serve a simple continental breakfast in the Piano Lounge from 6:30 AM-10:30 AM, light snacks in the Tropical Bar from 5:00-6:00 PM, and late night snacks in the Tropical Bar from 11:30 PM-12:30 AM.
I found the breakfast buffet to be pretty typical: hot trays of eggs, bacon, sausage, and beans for the Brits; lots of pastries and baked goods; yogurt and its many accoutrements; lots of fruits; an omelet station with eggs to order.
Every day, the lunch buffet had a theme: seafood, Italian, Asian. There would be trays filled with themed dishes — meat, fish, and vegetarian options — along with interactive stations like carving or pasta stations, and plenty of salad stuff.
The buffet food wasn’t fancy, but it was tasty for the most part.
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