STATELY SHIP - Modeled after the 1902 Pruessen, the largest and fastest fully rigged ship in its day, Royal Clipper is the world's largest square-rigged sailing ship. CNS Photo courtesy of Fotoseeker.
A few steps from the dock put me between St. Mark's 300-foot bell tower, or campanile, and the Doge's Palace. As I stepped into the piazza - sometimes called the drawing room of Europe - cafe orchestras were tuning up for their nightly "duels," and each of the hundred or so electric candlelights in every window of the palace suddenly lit. For a few moments, I felt like an actor on a stage. Venice was welcoming me to its unmatched charms as I continued my journey that began at the cruise ship terminal and ended in Rome following nine days in the Mediterranean.
My Venetian encounter continued with a brief stroll through the street labyrinth bordering the piazza, where the beat was rising in clubs and restaurants. A Bellini nightcap was my perfect ending back at Cip's, the Cipriani's waterside dining venue whose decor is the mesmerizing panorama of Venice. It's just one of the reasons international film stars, British and American aristocrats, Italian titans of industry and Americans in the know and in the money find the Cipriani their Venetian residence of choice.
Venice was the right city to launch my European sailing adventure on the Royal Clipper, the world's largest square-rigged sailing ship, with her five masts and mega-yacht design. Swedish billionaire and Star Clippers owner Mikael Krafft modeled it after the 1902 Pruessen, which was the largest and fastest fully rigged ship on the seas in its day. It's no wonder we drew crowds at every port; Royal Clipper cuts a striking and unique profile. To watch the 50-plus sails unfurl to symphonic music one by one is impressive every time it happens. If the spectacle occurs at night in view of lights twinkling across ancient mountains and edifices in a storied port like Capri, the mind makes an indelible memory bank deposit.
Our nine-day itinerary took us along the Adriatic's east coast to three ports in Croatia, into Corfu, Greece, and around the Italian boot into Sicily and Rome.
POOL PARTY - Besides its signature rigging, Royal Clipper has other striking design features, not the least of which is the glass-bottomed pool suspended over the ship's central atrium area. CNS Photo courtesy of Fotoseeker.
Onboard with about 200 other cruisers of assorted ages, I met a handful of American passengers and lots of Europeans - especially Germans and Brits. Royal Clipper's passenger lists typically represent multiple nationalities (we had 15) and its young, energetic crew on my sailing represented about 20 flags. Nearly all spoke English. Announcements were made in English, German and French. The ship currency is the euro. Meal seatings were open, and every effort was made to match guests by their language. For some, this was a moot point - I kept company with one chap from Luxembourg who spoke six tongues, so he had an easy time at any table. I found the international mix added a lot to my adventure experience. Passengers were sophisticated, well-traveled individuals, and many were repeaters with the cruise line, which has two smaller sailing ships in its fleet. Some spoke of their ocean crossings on the clippers, which offer itineraries in Europe, the Caribbean and the Far East.
I never tired of the ship's "yachty" ambience. Besides her signature rigging, Royal Clipper has other striking design features - not the least of which is the glass-bottom pool suspended over the ship's central atrium area. Seawater in the pool (one of three onboard) diffuses the sunlight into the ship's mahogany and brass interior. During our multiple bright, sunny days in the Adriatic, light flowed through the pool to illuminate the main dining room buffet tables on the lowest level of the three-deck atrium. By the dark of night, another kind of light flowed from the gleaming white baby grand in the piano bar at mid-atrium level when Gabor, our Hungarian pianist, played background music during the dinner hours.
The mahogany and brass appointments carried into my nicely appointed category 2 double outside cabin of about 150 square feet. Closet and drawer space was generous, and at odd moments during the voyage I enjoyed movies from the ship's library on my TV, which also broadcast news and other features in our three shipboard languages.
Dinners were a la carte, and laden with a generous selection of internationally pleasing dishes mixed with selections that reflected whatever local culture we were traversing. Each night it was a white-linen presentation, but dinner dress was not prescribed - just not your swim shorts. Our dashing Ukrainian Capt. Paschenko ate in the dining room more than one night, and he and other senior crew were always available on the bridge to chat about the ship, the itinerary and their personal love of sailing. Our official Captain's Dinner evening included surf and turf and a baked Alaska finale.
LIGHTING THE WAY - Seawater in the pool above diffuses the sunlight streaming into the interior, providing light to the dining room and piano bar. CNS Photo by Fotoseeker.
Something besides drinking was almost always happening in the open-air Tropical Bar on the main deck. It's where smokers hung out most of the time, and it's where nightly events like a frog race, a karaoke singalong, a crew talent show and some Greek dancers from Corfu helped takers cap off their days. My entertainment highlight wasn't man-made - it was the nighttime fireworks we beheld while sailing past Stromboli Volcano in Italy's Aeolian Islands. Stromboli has been in a constant state of eruption since Roman times, and its brilliant, after-dark eruptions prompted a rousing round of late-night toasts and applause as we sailed by.
Volcano fireworks aside, Royal Clipper cruises aren't for people who need lots of onboard stimuli from casinos and dancing troupes. It's more about a climb up a mast for an especially dramatic view of blue water and legendary coastlines. A drop-down marina platform lowers from the stern for a myriad of watersports like windsurfing, swimming, banana boat riding and diving, with members of the crew sports team on hand to assist during port days. And below the water line was the Captain Nemo Lounge, a brass, wood and leather-appointed gym and spa space that's fitted with thick glass portholes that allow for glimpses of sea life when the ship is at anchor. In between ports, however, most people opt for deck chairs, their books and the passing scene of the very spacious sun deck.
From Venice, we began our blue water itinerary by touching three medieval Croatian ports in Rovinj, Hvar and the walled city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its ramparts and scars from centuries of strife, right up into the Bosnian war of the 1990s. I sampled Greek culture in Corfu on a driving and walking tour that offered evergreen mountain scenery, glimpses of ancient villages and the birthplace of Britain's Prince Philip, along with cafes and shops in pulsating Liston Piazza.
COZY CABIN - The mahogany and brass appointments carry into the cabins that provide plenty of storage space. The TV offers movies from the ship's library, news and features broadcasts in three languages. CNS Photo by Fotoseeker.
Around the Italian boot we sailed into the 4th century Sicilian mountain resort town of Taormina. Its Greco Roman theater sits between Mount Etna and blue water on a spectacular jagged landscape, especially riveting from the high view some of my cruise friends and I got, courtesy of the local taxi we hired in port. Like sultry Dubrovnik in August, Capri was jammed with tourists, yet a tender tour around the island's vertical limestone cliffs and grottoes provided delightful escape. Twilight presented a better port encounter and the chance to drink in the island's legendary past after most tourists retreated to nearby Naples, Salermo and other destinations.
Disembarkation in Civitavecchia - port of Rome - left me wondering what would dominate my long-term memory: being onboard one of the world's most beautiful cruise vessels; visits to storied ports and cultural icons; or the late-summer night's Venetian scene I drank in from Hotel Cipriani's waterside bar. In any case, the magic would continue.
IF YOU GO
For cruise itineraries, schedules and rates for the Royal Clipper, call (800) 442-0551 or visit www.starclippers.com.. Contact Venice's Hotel Cipriani at (800) 237-1236 or www.hotelcipriani.com. It is a member of Orient-Express Hotels.
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