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From the bridge of the three-masted windjammer, the Sea Cloud Spirit, the captain referred to as out the phrases we’d all been ready for.
“Let’s set the sails!” he cried, after turning off the engines, whereas maneuvering to take care of an optimum angle for his 18 deckhands to climb into the shrouds and unfurl the ship’s 44,132 sq. ft of sails by hand.
Like acrobats, the crew scurried up the masts to the higher topgallant sails that rose practically 200 ft above us. The ship’s captain, Vukota Stojanovic, later insisted that none of it was for present. “Whenever there is a chance to sail, we sail,” he mentioned.
For the subsequent hour, the crew hauled the ropes till the 28 sails have been billowing within the wind, propelling the 452-foot-long ship — the world’s largest passenger crusing vessel on which the sails are raised by hand — towards its first port of name, Portofino, Italy.
At a time when cruise strains are packing their ever-more-gargantuan ships with water parks and basketball courts, the 136-passenger Sea Cloud Spirit, with its old school clipper design and wood decks, stands out. It is the latest ship from the Hamburg-based Sea Cloud Cruises, and whereas it’s the firm’s largest, Sea Cloud mentioned it needed to depart house for passengers to connect with the encompassing components.
“Wherever you’re on the ship, it looks like you’re sitting on the water,” mentioned Amelia Dominick, 71, a retired actual property agent from Cologne, Germany, who was on her third cruise onboard the Sea Cloud Spirit.
I had arrived for a four-night “taster crusing” from Nice, France, to the Ligurian area of Italy, designed to entice passengers to enroll in an extended cruise. Here’s what I discovered.
The ship and cabins
The Spirit has many comforts and luxuries, together with a health heart, library, hair salon and a spa with a Finnish sauna that overlooks the ocean. The deck layouts are spacious, with nooks carved out for privateness and rest.
Sixty-nine spacious cabins have home windows that open onto the ocean. My room, a junior suite on the third deck, had two giant arched home windows, mahogany tables, a balcony and a snug sofa and armchair. The marble lavatory was lavish, with a gold-plated sink and huge jetted bathtub.
The elegant inside design is impressed by the unique Sea Cloud, in-built 1931 for Marjorie Merriweather Post, the American heiress of the General Foods Corporation, with shiny wood panels and gold trimmings. The Sea Cloud was the most important personal crusing yacht on the earth earlier than Post handed it over to the U.S. Navy to be used as a weather-reporting vessel throughout World War II. The four-mast, 64-passenger ship has since been restored to its former glory and can sail throughout the Aegean and Adriatic this summer season.
Sailing
The expertise felt genuine — even earlier than the sails have been set — with an in depth security drill. On most cruises, the drill entails a security video and signing in at an meeting level. But right here, passengers placed on their life jackets and walked by means of emergency situations that included rationing meals provides and fishing from the lifeboat.
Each day, the sails have been set, even throughout heavy rain and wind speeds over 30 knots. Guests desirous to take part within the rigging are often invited to take action, however the climate situations made it too dangerous for this crusing.
“It was wonderful to look at the work go into placing the sails up and down and to expertise the wind energy pulling the ship so quick with out the engines,” mentioned Malte Rahnenfuehrer, a 50-year-old psychologist from Zurich, who was touring along with his associate and two youngsters.
The captain
It is uncommon for cruise passengers to see the ship’s captain after the preliminary welcome drinks or gala dinner. But Capt. Vukota Stojanovic was omnipresent all through the cruise, from setting sails to lifeguarding to mingling with company.
Originally from Montenegro, Captain Stojanovic piloted container ships for years. When he was requested to think about helming the unique Sea Cloud practically 10 years in the past, he hesitated as a result of he had no expertise crusing. Even after he realized the ropes — and there are 340 ropes (referred to as operating rigging) on the vessel — he was not sure. “I grew to like the sailings, the boats, the crew the approach to life, however I nonetheless felt I belonged on container ships,” he mentioned. “It can be a giant adjustment, particularly as a result of I must shave day-after-day,” he joked.
Eventually, he accepted the chance and labored tirelessly to learn to sail and function the ship. Today, he retains an “open bridge” coverage, permitting passengers to go to the management room, even when he’s wrestling with the wind.
“The crew and the passengers are all a part of the expertise, and I like to fulfill folks and obtain their suggestions,” Captain Stojanovic mentioned.
Environment
Sea Cloud Cruises aspires to take a “mild” strategy, utilizing wind energy to drive its ships wherever potential, even when meaning altering course for optimum climate situations. When crusing shouldn’t be potential, the Spirit has two diesel-electric engines that run on low-sulfur marine diesel gas. The firm can also be working with ports which have shore energy capabilities to plug into the native electrical energy.
Onboard, there’s an emphasis on reusable bottles and paper straws, and crew members separate stable waste to be compacted and eliminated when in port.
Excursions and Activities
We made stops in Portofino, San Remo, Italy, and St.-Tropez, France, anchoring offshore and attending to land by tender — a distinction to the large cruise ships with their loud horns and thick plumes of exhaust spewing from their funnels.
For passengers desirous to take a dip (there isn’t any pool), the crew marked an space within the water with floats and an inflatable slide. The water was frigid, however many passengers took the plunge from the swimming deck. Guests might additionally take “Zodiac Safaris” across the ship to get views of the vessel from the water.
Excursions ranged from meals and wine excursions to e-biking and seaside journeys. In Portofino, passengers have been free to discover the sights independently, together with the Castello Brown Fortress and the lighthouse on Punta del Capo rock. There was ample time to eat meals on shore because the ship didn’t depart till 11 p.m. Over the summer season, the Sea Cloud Spirit will sail to Spain, Portugal, France and the Azores, amongst different locations. On Nov. 11, she’s going to depart for St. Maarten within the Caribbean for the winter.
Wherever the vessel goes, mentioned Mirell Reyes, president of Sea Cloud Cruise for North America, the corporate tries to “avoid the crowds and ports the place huge cruise ships spit out 6,000 passengers.”
Summer costs, which embrace meals and drinks, vary from $3,995 for a four-night crusing in a superior cabin to $9,420 for a veranda suite. Seven-night sailings price between $6,995 and $16,495.
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