Sailing on the High Seas with Sea Cloud Spirit
Sailing into port or viewing it pier side there are few ships that cause a whiplash of adoration and nostalgia of a bygone era, as the Sea Cloud Spirit does. It’s a nautical marriage of history to the traditional romance of travel, coupled with beautiful craftsmanship and skill of its seafaring crew. Perhaps more importantly, with Sea Cloud Spirit, guests can experience a Caribbean unlike that while traveling on a traditional regional cruise. Not just due to its size, but also because it’s a traditionally sailed three-masted, full-rigged ship, and the vast majority of guests are European.
Built in 2021, Sea Cloud Spirit is 452-feet long with a beam of 56-feet and has 28 sails, carrying a maximum of 136 passengers and 85 crew. I joined Sea Cloud Spirit for its seven-night round-trip St. Martin journey through the Lesser Antilles over Thanksgiving week, which had as an added treat, Kerry Sanders, the affable, former NBC journalist who during two lectures, regaled fascinating stories from various worldwide conflict zones in addition to his well-known coverage of hurricanes. These lectures were so interesting, guests were sad when they ended. On this voyage were 102 guests, mainly German, Belgian, and Dutch, with 20 North American guests.
Guest accommodations are located on Cabin Deck two, Veranda Deck three, and Lido Deck four. The Cabin Deck also contains the Boutique, the Spa Area with two treatment rooms, steam bath, Finnish Sauna, relaxation area, multi-sensory shower, and swimming platform, while the Veranda Deck houses Reception and the Restaurant.
On the Lido Deck is the sun-drenched Library with gleaming hardwood floors, coffee table books, and a small selection of hardcover and paperbacks. The Lido Deck also houses the Lounge where lectures occur and the outdoor Lido Bar & Bistro where most social activity happens.
The Sun Deck has sun loungers, several oyster-shaped daybeds, the Bridge, and the small Fitness Center with floor-to-ceiling windows – perfect for viewing brown boobies Kamikaze-style nose-dive for sustenance – has a LifeFitness treadmill, two spinners, rower, elliptical, bench, hand weights, yoga mats, and blocks.
For those concerned with movement, Spirit is the most stable of Sea Cloud’s fleet of three ships – the 94-year-old four-masted Sea Cloud and her younger sister Sea Cloud II – owing in large part to the multiple gill stabilizers on each of Spirit’s sides.
The Accommodations
Onboard there are six categories of accommodations, from a Superior Single Stateroom at 140-square feet to the Veranda Suite having 301-square feet. I hung my hat in a Category D Deluxe Stateroom with 205-square feet.
My cabin was beautifully appointed with gold and black carpeting, wainscoting, a king-size bed with European style duvet bedding, two portholes, a loveseat, and a 36-inch flatscreen television. In the television hutch was a mini refrigerator stocked with sodas, and a Nespresso coffee maker. A split of Prosecco was waiting on arrival and a bowl of fresh fruit in the cabin was replenished daily.
For guests traveling with multiple devices, you’ll want to pack a European plug adaptor with multiple USB ports built-in as not all staterooms have USB ports. Staying connected was easy with Starlink satellite internet providing strong coverage throughout the voyage with 10GB included in the standard cruise fare.
The cabin also had a small make-up table and upholstered bench. There were two closets, one with drawers, and a small mini safe that was suitable for wallets and cell phones.
The black and rose granite-trimmed bathroom had a lighted make up mirror, fashionable gold fixtures, thick, high-quality towels, a marble-tiled walk-in shower with a built-in bench, and l’Occitane amenities.
Food Matters
Breakfasts in the Restaurant were a delightful affair of excellent coffee, fresh fruits, and bakery items – try the Nutella-filled croissants, you can thank me later – as well as charcuterie, cheeses, breakfast meats, eggs, cereals, and a made-to-order omelette station.
Al fresco lunches and dinners on the Lido Deck were buffet style and always had a salad bar, soups, grilled items such as shrimp and fresh fish, flank and T-bone steaks, venison, pork, fish stew, and pastas with a selection of vegetarian and gluten-free options. Did I mention the daily selection of creamy house made ice creams, with choices like caramel, dark chocolate, stracciatella, cherry, and strawberry? Afternoon tea was also served here daily.
One dinner and one lunch were served in the Restaurant with several courses and wine-paired with a selection of international wines. This is important as I’ve long believed that wine is basically interesting fruit salad, and I was not disappointed with the onboard wine options.
Long suffering from chocolate derangement syndrome, I was particularly pleased with the desserts, as one night there was a warm lava cake, another night a rich chocolate tort and the last night baked Alaska. Delighting in those made me want to scream from the highest sails, “Let them eat cake!” But as Marie Antoinette got into a world of trouble for that, it’s probably best to first have bread, then eat cake.
Enjoyable Excursions
On this voyage we had two days beneath full sails and following a fitness test, guests had the option of climbing the rigging to the 42-feet high first platform with the crew. Having done this on another vessel, I instead utilized the spa.
We made a half-day stop at Terre-de-Haut/Îles des Saintes. There were full day stops at St. Lucia’s Soufrière, Dominica’s Cabritz, and St. Barthélemy’s Gustavia, before returning to St. Martin. A selection of excursions are built into the cruise fare and included snorkeling, nature hikes, botanical garden visits and Indian River rowing. In this part of the world, since relaxing on the beach is an art form worthy of repeated attempts, I always had my bathing suit on hand to partake when the mood arose.
At Les Saintes, the archipelago islands of Guadeloupe, home to gardening goats, a French overseas territory, Napoleon’s Fort built in the mid-1800s, rises in Terre-de-Haut 340-feet above sea level like a Phoenix. After climbing up for the view, I ambled down to plage de Pompierre – firefigher’s beach – for a well-deserved plunge. Strolling through the beachfront, tiny town of Marigot enjoying a café-au-lait completed a perfect day.
Verdant St. Lucia, the only country named after a woman – Saint Lucia of Syracuse – became independent from the British in 1979. It has two Nobel laureates, one in economics and one in literature, and given its population of about 180,000, makes it the country with the highest percentage of laureates. In Soufrière – French for sulfured air – we went to to its beautiful botanical garden with all manner of tropical flowers including heliconias, sleeping hibiscus, and red ginger, while philodendrons in search of light reached hundreds of feet. Massive bamboo grow one to two centimeters a day during the rainy season here.
At perhaps the world’s only drive-in volcano with its steaming, pungent sulfur springs, we were reminded that nature’s force is only a heartbeat away. This excursion ended with a two-mile hike on the Tet Paul trail and ‘stairway to heaven’ providing glorious views of St. Lucia’s most famous landmarks, its two Pitons – volcanic plugs – the taller, Gros Piton, at 2,618 feet, and the smaller, Petit Piton, at 2,438 feet. This stop ended with swimming in Soufrière and an ice cold, local Piton beer.
On Dominica, which gained their independence from Britain in 1978, a local guide rowed us in an eight-person canoe down the Indian River reminiscent of Disney’s Jungle Cruise ride without the requisite “E” ticket, except here the egrets, swamp crabs, and green back and yellow herons were real. A mile into the river, we stopped for a rum punch at the Bush Bar where, according to the broken wall clock, “Time stands still.” This day concluded with happy hour at the Intercontinental Hotel made complete with an excellent all-woman Caribbean steel drum music jam.
At St. Barts, the Caribbean’s St. Tropez, made famous by the Hamptons crowd, many guests opted for snorkeling in its marine reserve. Being an aviation geek, I walked 30-minutes uphill to Rémy de Haenen airport to watch regional aircraft take off and land on the shortest and most precarious runaway in the hemisphere at only 2,119 feet. It’s a sight to behold especially with the backdrop of the sea’s azure waters and hills behind. At nearby Eden Rock Hotel, beautiful people were abundant, surpassed only by the beautiful beach and balmy waters with the landmark red-capped lighthouse in the distance.
Those wishing to engage in retail therapy will find their needs met in charming St. Bart’s Gustavia, with several high-end shops including Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès. Several small boutiques, cafés and bars, and an Anglican Church complete this lovely town.
A Fond Farewell
On the final day I joined the cruise’s last excursion with a terrific local guide hitting most of St. Martin’s important sights. It included a beachfront restaurant lunch and ended with airport drop off. It was a seamless, easy, and great way to transition to one’s onward journey.
Whether guests choose to chill onboard under the care of hospitable staff or partake in scheduled excursions, if seeking a more culturally varied Caribbean cruise with a European flair, sailing with Sea Cloud Spirit will be enjoyable indeed.
Julie L. Kessler is a journalist, attorney, and the author of the award-winning memoir: “Fifty-Fifty, The Clarity of Hindsight.” Her work has appeared in several major publications around the world, including The L.A. Times, The S.F. Examiner, The Asia Times, U.S. News & World Report, The Jerusalem Post, The Vancouver Courier, The Daily Journal and The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, among many others. She can be reached at Julie@VagabondLawyer.com.
