STAR CLIPPER:  Review by Steve Hall (Independent Contractor with Pams Path to Travel) - 2025

My wife and I, along with 2 other couples, had a wonderful time on the Star Clipper sailing through Costa Rica & Panama. I am writing this review to give you specific information about the Costa Rica & Panama cruise itself, as there was limited information I could find online. My wife and I have traveled on over 70 cruises on the usual North American large cruise lines, but this was our first time trying a sailing vessel and a small ship. We really enjoyed the sailing aspect of the voyage. I thought we might be bored, but the crew kept us entertained each day, thanks mostly to cruise director Axel Melchior, was really knowledgeable, fun, and entertaining. I found the food to be of a very high quality and it exceeded my expectations. So let’s talk about this itinerary!

SUMMARY

Day 1: Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, Departure: 10pm

Day 2: Quepos, Costa Rica, 12pm – 6pm

Day 3: Golfito, Costa Rica, 10am – 5pm

Day 4: Coiba National Park, Panama, 9am – 6pm

Day 5: Isla Parida, Golfo de Chiriqui National Park, Panama, 8am – 4:30pm

Day 6: At Sea

Day 7: Isla Tortuga, Costa Rica, 8am – 10pm

Day 8: Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, 7am

PUERTO CALDERA, COSTA RICA

Departure: 10pm

The cruise begins in Puerto Caldera, a very industrial port. When the taxi dropped us off at the port, there was no one from there from Star Clippers to greet us. Norwegian cruise line was there, we had to ask them where we should go for Star Clippers. They directed to us an area where there was a van which we would use to get through security and to the small cruise terminal itself. Boarding was at 4pm (they did not allow people to board early) and they boarded in groups. The boarding process took much longer than I thought (maybe 45 minutes). We also had to line up on the ship to turn in our passports. The sailing was not off to a strong start, but once we were handed a complimentary rum punch, things got much better quickly. Every night when the sails are raised is an event, this day we set sail late at 10pm.

QUEPOS, COSTA RICA

12pm – 6pm

The ship didn’t arrive until 12pm. I believe the reason for such a late arrival was to allow time for the captain and cruise director to speak to everyone in the morning and do the 2nd of 2 safety drills (the first one is day 1). I found this to be annoying as Quespos is a great port and we could have used more time there. We did the Manuel Antonio National Park tour here. You must call (or if you working through a travel agent, the travel agent must call) to book this tour ahead of time. I called about 2 months in advance of the cruise and it was almost sold out! Only 2 of the 3 couples were able to book, which was disappointing. So obviously if you are interested in this tour, book the excursion at the same time you are making final payment to avoid disapointment. The tour was pretty good (saw monkeys, sloths, and more), although we didn’t get very far into the park and there are lots of people with other guides around. The tour comes with time at the beach, but because we got to the beach at 2:30pm that only left 30 minutes to enjoy it as the National Park closes the beach at 3pm (they blow a whistle to get everyone out of the water). I was hoping for much more time at the beach.

GOLFITO, COSTA RICA

10am – 5pm

We had 2 options for independent travel here. We could take a zodiac from the ship to a pebbly beach and some small restaurants or a tender to the very small town of Golfito which has a dock. We chose to take a tender after lunch and just walked along the shore to take in the views and stretch our legs. We saw 2 macaws flying around which was cool to see. There is a fancy restaurant/bar at the marina, but we chose to go back to the ship and have our afternoon cocktails at the ship’s Tropical Bar. I would say the bay is very pretty but there’s not much to do here independently. Our friends did the “Gulfo Dulce Dolphin watching & swimming” tour which they enjoyed and saw plenty of dolphins.

COIBA NATIONAL PARK, PANAMA

9am – 6pm

This was a great port. There are no excursions offered as the ship offers two experiences, I recommend doing both. First, they use the ships tenders to take people out to go snorkeling. I found the snorkeling here to be really, really good, with plenty of fish and a huge variety. We also saw a shark, eels, and sea turtles, in additional to all of the colorful, tropical fish. The water is super warm in this part of the Pacific, which makes the swimming extra enjoyable. The other activity is the beach at Coiba, which is a beautiful, white sandy beach. There weren’t many people at the beach, it was pure paradise.

ISLA PARIDA, PANAMA

8am – 4:30pm

This was another ship organized beach day in Panama. It was another beautiful beach and it was rented out just for Star Clipper passengers. The ship brought over food, drink, and supplies, and cooked us a delicious bbq lunch. They even opened up the bar for a couple of hours on the island. Just like the previous port, you could borrow the ships water toys like the stand up paddle board and kayaks. My wife and I took a kayak out to nearby island and got to see how local Panamanians spend a day at the beach.

DAY AT SEA

It was nice to have a sea day on this sailing. The highlight was climbing the ladder to the crow’s nest, which felt like a bit of adventure.

ISLA TORTUGA, COSTA RICA

8am – 10pm

There is a shore excursion offered here first thing in the morning to go to Curu Wildlife Preserve for a guided nature tour. We chose to do this tour and enjoyed it, especially when we saw a large group of white-faced monkeys up close. The ship actually stops and loads everyone into a tender to go do the tour, then continues on to anchor off of Isla Tortuga. So after the tour was completed, we had a fairly long tender ride to get back to the ship. After lunch, we headed over to the island via tender. This island was fairly crowded in the beginning with other tour boats. It’s more of a party beach, with plenty of bars and restaurants and beach chairs you could rent. But by 3pm the beach mostly clears out and only Star Clipper passengers remain. We were allowed to stay at the beach until it started to get dark.

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE

Here are a few other items of note:

• Aside from Puerto Caldera where the sailing begins and ends, the ship never docked alongside. We would use the tender to get to the shore (or occasionally the zodiac). The first 2 ports the tender can dock at the marina, but all of the other ports were wet landings, where we got out into the water. Some of these landings were a bit chaotic, as the tender and zodiac would often be used in tandem (zodiac for final drop off or pickup), requiring transfer between each

• There were 3 theme nights: White Night (wear white), Pirate Night (dress up as a pirate), and the Captain’s Gala (dress your finest)

• Drink prices were very reasonable. Cocktails ran about 8 Euro, beer 4-4.50 Euro, bottles of wine 24-28 Euro. Bar service was excellent and I rarely had to wait for a drink.

In summary, my friends, my wife, and I had such a wonderful time onboard the Star Clipper and both Costa Rica and Panama were awesome!

Some photes that Steve uploaded to Cruise Critic can be viewed here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/star-clippers/star-clipper/reviews/726495