Windjammer Nude Caribbean Cruise
Yankee Clipper
After the island tour, Mandoo dropped us off at the ship. When they let everybody onboard, they handed out rum punches and invited us 15 at a time into the dining room to turn in our paperwork and get our cabin assignments.
The cabins are very small. They offer comfortable bunk-bed–style berths and just enough floor space to stand. They also feature a small closet, but that wasn’t of much use on a nude cruise. We stowed our suitcases under the lower berth.
Anyone who’s never been aboard a small sailing vessel will be surprised by the bathroom (head) accommodations. As on any ship, the interior design is based on maximizing space and efficiency. So the heads on the Yankee Clipper contain a toilet, sink, mirror, towel bar, soap and bottle racks, and shower... all stuffed into a 2'x 3' tiled room with a drain in the floor. I liked to joke about being able to shower while brushing my teeth and using the toilet at the same time. It might sound uncomfortable but once you get used to it, it’s really not bad. Christie told us one night that after a few years of doing Windjammer cruises, she developed a list of things to identify you as a “Windjammer”. One of the items on the list is “You know you’re a ’Jammer when you automatically reach over your head for the toilet paper”!
Most Windjammer cruises are textile, but because ours was a special charter, it was a clothing optional cruise. Christie has been chartering this cruise for many years now, so the crew of the Yankee Clipper is used to it and were always very professional and friendly. The crew were required to wear their normal uniforms but it was always a fun joke to try to entice them to join us. They always took it in the good-natured spirit it was intended. We followed the standard rules of clothing optional resorts regarding towels and behavior when on board the ship and on beach excursions. The captain informed us of the few times where clothing was required (when docked in harbor and for a couple of shore excursions).
The agenda of the first night was to get settled into our cabins, enjoy rum punches, get to know our fellow cruise-mates, and have dinner. We already knew three other couples from the previous year’s cruise. The nude Windjammer charter draws an extremely high percentage of repeat customers.
The ship is equipped with a tiny (but fully functioning) bar on the quarterdeck, conveniently located at the base of the stairs to the main deck. On most cruises you have to pay for your alcoholic drinks, but Christie organized this charter cruise so that all the drinks were inclusive. That was very convenient and we all indulged but nobody ever abused it. If you didn’t want a rum punch, you were free to get a bottled water, glass of wine, mixed drink, or beer from the bar.
The food that’s served on the Yankee Clipper is all cooked on-board from fresh ingredients. The kitchen is a teensy place and nobody’s quite sure how they turn out the food that they do so there must be some culinary magic involved. The plates are passed back and forth through a tiny window between the kitchen and the dining room. The kitchen staff can only enter the kitchen through two tiny (2'w x 3'h) doors, one on either side of the steps entering the dining room. They swing in and out by holding the doorsill, almost like how the Dukes of Hazzard got in and out of the General Lee. To work on a Windjammer ship you not only need sea legs and agility but also no sense of claustrophobia whatsoever!
