Sea Cloud Sea Spirit: Experience the golden age of sailing ships without missing the modern amenities of a new build

Story and photos By Bob Levinstein, CEO and Co-founder of CruiseCompete

Sailing on Sea Cloud is all about the ship. The Sea Cloud Spirit is a five-decked, three-masted windjammer, with the tallest of her three masts soaring to 190 feet above the waterline. From the moment you see her moored alongside the dock, you can tell she’s a celebrity from the never-ending stream of tourists taking pictures of her. Built in 2021, she offers passengers the chance to experience the golden age of sailing ships without missing the modern amenities of a new build.

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The Sea Cloud Spirit is a five-decked, three-masted windjammer, with the tallest of her three masts soaring to 190 feet above the waterline.

I could talk about the art and artistry that goes into the design of a sailing ship, or the complexity of the rigging, or the history and romance of a vessel that runs in front of the wind, but there isn’t much point: it’s something that either reaches you somewhere deep down or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, that’s OK–this just isn’t the cruise line for you. But if the idea of sailing in a tall ship that harnesses the breeze to propel you across the sea speaks to you, there’s a special kind of magic here.

The Sea Cloud Spirit measures 453 feet long and 56 feet wide in the beam and boasts 28 sails that can be hoisted in various combinations to catch the wind. She is capable of hosting 136 passengers and 85 crew, though as our 5-night, end-of-August sailing was past the prime season, we were among about 60 passengers.

We met the ship in Madeira, a Portuguese island off the coast of Africa. While boarding wasn’t available until 4:00PM, the line conveniently offers a luggage drop-off starting at noon. We were able to check out of the Tui Blue, a very comfortable hotel with a lot of amenities about a 10-minute taxi ride from the port and drop our bags.

It’s a short walk from the port to the downtown area. Goal number one was to find a sweater for my wife for windy days at sea which we accomplished at a shopping mall in short order. We then had lunch at an outdoor cafe called Teatro across from the municipal gardens. “The” popular local sandwich is called a “Prego”–very tender steak seasoned with garlic, plus egg and cheese and ham and other options on the local “bolo bread.” Highly recommended and reasonably priced.

We strolled a bit through the gardens across the street. They are not very large, so this didn’t take a lot of time, but we did enjoy watching the baby ducks i the small duck pond and took a few pictures in front of the statue of Cristiano Renaldo in front of a dockside museum dedicated to his career. (Cristiano is bigger in Madeira than Elvis in Memphis–or than Rhianna in Barbados if that resonates better with the younger crowd. In addition to the museum and the statue, the airport is named after him, and we saw multiple “CR7” hotel and restaurant properties as well).

We were handed cool towels and glasses of sparkling with as we boarded the Sea Cloud Spirit. The hotel manager is a charming, gregarious man who immediately made us feel welcome. Staff as a whole were extremely accommodating and friendly.

Our cabin was on Deck 3 of the 5-level ship–a suite with a balcony near the front of the ship on the starboard side. We were greeted by a basket of fruit, chocolate-covered strawberries, and a bottle of champagne on ice. Everything exuded a beautiful, elegant, old-world charm. The cabin featured closets with lots of drawers, a pull-out desk, a pull-out bar, a refrigerator with an ice-bucket that was refilled daily as well as soft-drinks and water, metal water bottles stamped with the line’s logo (a gift for us), a small sofa, and makeup mirror and stool. The large, comfortable bed was clad in high-end sheets and comforters, The bathroom was gorgeous–white and gold with a large bathtub. The water temperature and pressure were excellent, and it was stocked with high-quality soaps and shampoos and conditioners, as well as robes and slippers.

Other than the one “elegant dress” night dinner in the restaurant, food on board was served buffet style on the aft open deck of the ship and is very much a strength for Sea Cloud. The food was very high quality with a wide variety of dishes. Each dinner began with a cocktail half-hour hosted by the hotel manager, with tastings of local wines, cheeses, and other appetizers. The dinners themselves featured a choice of wines and some absolutely spectacular entrees. Pasta prepared inside a carved-out wheel of Parmesan cheese. Unlimited lobster tails. An entire 4.5-foot-long tuna carved up into sashimi on demand. Passengers were very, very impressed.

We spent the first night of the cruise docked in Madeira, and after an excellent breakfast boarded a bus for the levada tour that we had booked in advance of the sailing. Levadas are narrow irrigation canals—about a foot wide–that channel water from the mountains for irrigation, erosion control, and today even generate hydro-electric power. The first levadas were built more than 500 years ago, and now there are more than 1,300 miles of them on the island.

The bus took us up into the hills, where we followed our guide through a forest around the rim of a canyon on a narrow path following the course of the waterway. As our elevation didn’t change as we walked and the path was better maintained than a lot of city sidewalks, we had a very relaxing time learning about traditional life on the island, sampling local fruits, and taking in spectacular views of mountains, forests, farms and the ocean beyond. We finished with a light snack and a shot of “Poncha,” a sour drink made mostly from distilled sugar cane juice and lemon reputedly favored by Madeiran sailors at a small local restaurant before re-boarding our bus for the short ride back to the ship.

After lunch, the ship left port and sailed—not very far. We anchored less than a mile from shore where the crew got busy setting out a rope with floating chairs attached and a few other sea toys including kayaks and stand-up paddleboards so anyone interested could take a quick refreshing dip. The water was perfect and refreshing, and life jackets were available for anyone uncomfortable with deep-water swimming. A couple of crew members in a motorized zodiac were also on hand to take passengers out for quick tube rides.

After a great breakfast the following morning, we headed to the top deck to watch the crew hoist the main sails to catch the wind for our journey, while a crewman explained the procedures. Teams climbed high aloft in the rigging, releasing the sails from the yardarms, while other crewmembers worked the winches below to raise the sails in coordinated teamwork. It is a fascinating and beautiful sight that must be experienced.

The upper deck has plenty of deck chairs and day beds from which to enjoy the trip, and—especially when the sails are up—lots of shade. Large, soft, towels and blankets were always available. And this, along with dining, was really the main activity of the cruise.

My first thought was that this cruise really isn’t for people that have a need to be busy doing something all of the time. Aside from a few lectures, the cocktail hour, and some music after dinner, there really isn’t much of anything in the way of scheduled entertainment and activities on board.

But, as one of those people who need to be busy, I realized I was wrong. We are exactly the kind of people who need this experience the most. When I’m on a sailing with constant activity—whether it’s a Galapagos cruise with three excursions per day or a superliner with a daily planner that runs for pages—there’s always a sense of anxiety. Have I made the right activity selections? Am I missing out? And as travel can be exhausting—changes in time zones, interrupted sleep schedules, too much great food and drink, lots of physical activity—there’s always pressure to do rather than to take time to just relax.

This is not that experience. You can sleep in. Read a book. Talk to fellow passengers. Play cards or dominoes with your partner (we brought both). Listen to music together (I always bring my little Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker wherever I travel). Or just be together. And the Sea Cloud Spirit is definitely the place to unplug, disconnect, and to do just that.

While I would highly recommend sailing on Sea Cloud, I would not recommend this itinerary on Sea Cloud. Madeira to Lisbon entails crossing a lot of open water, and this ship is not built for stability. It wasn’t too bad when the sails were up, as the sails lift the ship out of the water and the sailing is much smoother. But when the captain needed to use the engines to make time, there was a great deal of movement. Even passengers who were very experienced sailors had issues with sea sickness, and that’s with the help of pills from the ship’s doctor. Plenty of Sea Cloud itineraries stick closer to the shelter of land where you’ll have a much better trip.

Seas were far calmer when we arrived in sight of Lisbon on a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and those of us who had signed up to “go aloft” met on the upper deck. We had to qualify medically on the first  day at sea. We filled out a heath questionnaire, had our blood pressure taken, then demonstrated that we could hang from a bar for ten seconds and stand on one foot for twenty. This last task was a lot harder than it sounds as the deck was in constant motion at the time. Fortunately, hopping was considered acceptable.

Two teams were in place from the crew to aid passengers in ascending to the middle platform on two different masts. With two men ahead of me, a man climbing behind me, and two separate safety lines attached to me there was really zero chance of things going wrong. The view from the mast looking down at the ship, the ocean, and the land beyond is unforgettable.

Lisbon is a beautiful city. The electric bike tour we booked through the ship was canceled due to not enough interest, so we joined a city tour instead without realizing that it was in German. We enjoyed the trolley ride through town while sampling a nice red wine, and then decided to bail out and explore the port area on our own. We enjoyed wandering around the shops, bars, and restaurants, and watching street performers before heading back to the ship and getting packed up, as we had a very early flight to catch in the morning.

Overall, Sea Cloud is a very well-run line. The crew are helpful, friendly, and very much available to serve any need passengers have. The food and wine selections are fantastic. And of course, the experience of cruising under sail on a classic-style ship with modern amenities, is not to be missed.

Sea Cloud Spirit: 5 Night – A FLOWER-THEMED SAILING TRIP from Funchal, Madeira to Lisbon, Portugal
Starting in Funchal, Madeira, Funchal, Madeira, Day under full sails, Day under full sails, Passage at the Tagus, Lisbon, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal

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Story and photos credit Bob Levinstein

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Sea Cloud Cruises is one of the world's most storied names in cruise travel. The 90-year-old four-masted Sea Cloud, her younger sister Sea Cloud II, and the new Sea Cloud Spirit combine the experience of traditional seamanship with the ambience and luxurious charm of classically elegant private yachts. Berlitz Cruise Guide regularly ranks Sea Cloud and Sea Cloud II among the top five cruise ships in the world.

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Sea Cloud Spirit: 5 Night – A FLOWER-THEMED SAILING TRIP from Funchal, Madeira to Lisbon, Portugal
Starting in Funchal, Madeira, Funchal, Madeira, Day under full sails, Day under full sails, Passage at the Tagus, Lisbon, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal