Royal Clipper Trip Report -- Day 9

Day 9 -- At Sea

High 70s, partly sunny, some afternoon rain

We slept in on our only Sea Day. We were supposed to stop on the island of Martinique, but France changed its Covid rules and Star Clippers decided to remove it from the itinerary. Slightly disappointing, but it turned into a 100% relaxation day, which turned out to be great. We decided to skip the buffet and just got a couple chocolate croissants from the continental breakfast in the Piano Bar. Found a spot on the aft deck and just enjoyed soaking up some sun and warmth. With the reduced number of passengers, it was never difficult to find a deck chair. But even having said that, the aft deck was a popular spot and most of the chairs were taken -- which made it difficult for the one person who was trying to get her steps in by doing laps on deck. It was kind of amusing to watch her try to weave her way through the people who had spread the chairs out to be socially distanced. Anyway, I had broken my sunglasses while trying to master the paddleboard a few days ago, so I needed a bit of a break from the direct sun and split my time between the exposed Sun Deck and the covered Tropical Bar.

And speaking of the Tropical Bar, this was the first time that there were any planned onboard activities for passengers during the day. There was a dance class, a darts competition, mini golf (with wooden pucks for golf balls and "holes" drawn on the deck with chalk), and some other things to give passengers something to do. They also allowed people to climb the mast again for a couple hours. Later in the afternoon, there was also a clearance sale of items from the Sloop Shop. There were some interesting things available, but we didn't buy anything. As an aside, everything in the Sloop Shop was priced ridiculously high. I'm used to prices being higher than normal on a cruise ship, even things like a men's belt were 50 Euros or more. I would've loved a t-shirt, but not for 40 Euros.

We ate a late lunch, which was an Asian buffet, with sushi and asian-syle soups, a noodle dish that was reminiscent of a house lo mein, a beef dish that I really liked. But then we headed back on deck.

Kath and I sat in the bowsprit netting for the next couple of hours, watching Martinique go by to our port. If it was fun to sit there while we were anchored in port, it was amazing to experience the ocean from this perspective while we were underway. The water was as beautiful as always and we couldn't really hear any noise from the passengers or crew. So it was just the two of us suspended over the ocean, listening to the sound of the ship cutting its way through the water. Honestly, it was one of the highlights of the cruise for me.

The rain on Martinique, especially in the right side of the photo.

As we sailed by Martinique, we could see rain falling heavily on parts of the island. And interestingly, there was rain in the distance to our starboard; but the crew did a good job of sailing between the rainclouds for quite a while. Eventually, though, we couldn't avoid it anymore and the rain started to fall on us. That was our cue to leave the bowsprit and head inside.

This was the first day that the Afternoon Snack disappointed us. It was waffles. This held no interest for me, sadly. But on the plus side, while we were sitting in the Tropical Bar with friends, Kathryn spotted dolphins swimming with us! Such a fun thing for the last day of our cruise! They swam with us about 15 minutes, but I think we were going to fast for them to really keep up with us for long.

After the onboard activities, and the disappointing waffles, and the clearance sale, it was time to get ready for our last dinner of the cruise. Before I get to the meal, let me just say a couple things about atmosphere and formality on the ship. There's no Formal Night with Star Clippers. You never have to get dressed up, and to be honest, I don't remember seeing anybody in fancy dress or even in a jacket and/or tie. There is a "no shorts" dress code in the dining room, but other than that, it's very relaxed. I enjoyed the "office casual" atmosphere. I've been known to wear my tux for Formal Night or when having dinner at a specialty restaurant on a cruise, but honestly, I didn't miss it at all.

So for dinner itself, I had the chicken tempura appetizer (basically, chicken fingers), which were ok. The sorbet was tomato tonight, and I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.

Kathryn's rack of lamb entree was great. I had the steak that is available every night, but I also asked for the seafood skewer to go with it, making a nice Surf and Turf dish. Unfortunately, the fish on the skewer was very dry and the shrimp were overcooked, but were still tasty. Dessert was pistachio ice cream, which was fine, but unremarkable.

After dinner, the staff paraded through the dining room, carrying national flags and we all clapped for them, thanking them for their service throughout the week. It was fun and they seemed to enjoy and appreciate it. But then the Hotel Manager came out and gave us a little farewell speech. But it was incredibly awkward. He basically said, "I know many of you had difficulties in making your preparations to join us this week. But the crew has it so much worse." (They're never allowed on shore, so it really is difficult for them.) He rambled for 3 or 4 minutes, and it felt like he was trying to make us feel guilty. It was just odd. Then to make things more awkward, the crew sang "We Are the World". Why? I honestly am not sure. But it was cheesy, and not done well, and I just wanted it to be over, to be honest.


After sharing a few last moments with friends in the Tropical Bar, we headed back to the room and packed up, put the suitcases out in the hall, and went to bed around 1.