Here is Part 2 of Larry Haugh’s interview with Vacation Agent magazine.

Who’s your typical client?
We’ve found that 50 percent of our passengers have been involved in boating at some point in their life. Anybody who owns boats…[or belongs to] any type of sailing club or yacht club, whether they’re power or sail boats, are potential clients. Our passenger is an average age of 55 with a household income of $120,000 who takes about three weeks vacation a year.

We offer a four-star product and we [use] actual sailing ships—our ships are designated SPV, for sail passenger vessel. We have engines, but we go primarily by sails as much and as frequently as possible. Over 80 percent of our American guests have been on previous cruises, and then they come to us because they want to do something different. We’re truly experiential when it comes to travel.

What sorts of programs do you have for travel agents?
Travel agents are the primary source of our business. One exciting new program is for groups in 2010 and ‘11 that gives clients savings of up to 50 percent off the brochure rates. A group size with us is only nine paying guests, and the 10th sails free, so you earn TCs much faster. We do have a maximum of two tour conductors per group, occupying the same cabin. If agents achieve group numbers, they can earn a $500 to $1,000 bonus commission per group. We’re currently redoing our website, and in the spring we plan to have a new, improved travel agent area on it as well. We don’t have a booking engine, but we have postcards and e-mails and flyers that can be customized.

Larry Haugh is vice president of sales for Star Clippers Americas.

What a wonderful cruise! Here are a few pictures from the cruise. The Crew was fantastic! We will be back!

Left: The fashion show starring Dave and Gill (now which is which?). Right: Talking with the “locals” on Dominica – these two boys were such a delight!

Left: What a view – the Royal Clipper at Antigua. Right: Christmas cookie making with Emma.

Left: The Royal Clipper choir. Right: The festive crew.

Elli Vandevelder enjoying the turquoise Tahitian waters.

With multigenerational travel continuing to rise in popularity, Star Clippers is attracting more junior cruisers each year. Parents and grandparents are looking to give their children and grandchildren an experience that is filled with more than grand buffets — they’re looking for a memorable adventure on a tall ship from the pages of a bedtime story or latest blockbuster film, with an educational element thrown in the mix.

Elli Vandevelder, 11, recently took a seven-day cruise with her parents aboard Star Flyer in Tahiti. The seasoned sailor (her parents have a 35-foot sailboat and she has her own dingy) says she had so much fun she could have sailed even longer, if it weren’t for missing her dog at home.

Visiting Tahiti had been a dream of Elli’s since she was 7 and read “The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone,” a book about a teenage boy who became the youngest person (at the time) to sail around the world solo. During his journey he visited Tahiti.

“I thought it would be cool to go there some day,” said Elli. “When I saw Tahiti and then Star Flyer, my jaw dropped and I thought ‘Oh my gosh, my dream came true!’”

The exuberant youth, who called the cruise “awesome,” was excited to talk about all of the activities she participated in on board, as well as her adventures ashore. The ship’s open bridge allowed her to visit Captain Bruno at the helm, and she also helped hoist the sails.

The Robinson Crusoe tour took Elli snorkeling, while her dad, Paul, went scuba diving on the reef.

“I stayed in the shallows, but my dad went out on the big reef and got close to a shark!” said Elli. “I even got to feed a butterfly fish from my hand!”

Other excursions took her to the highest peak in Taha’a where she ate pineapple and drank coconut juice that was prepared while she waited. She also sampled other exotic fruits such as guava, papaya and star fruit.

One of Elli’s favorite experiences was learning how to hula dance from a local Tahitian woman. She put her newfound skills to good use when the ship brought on local dancers one evening for the guests to enjoy. The natural performer also took part in the guest talent show where she played the guitar and sang a song she made up herself.

Paul enjoyed taking his daughter on the voyage because she was exposed to many nationalities, so it was a global experience for her. He also delighted in watching Elli make so many new friends on board.

“She came home with a lot of new grandmas,” he said with a smile. “And the sports team were really friendly,” Elli added. “If I was bored, I could run and find them and my parents could sunbathe!”

Although it was vacation for the Vandevelder family, Elli still had to complete some homework. Elli’s teacher asked her to keep a journal about her travels to Tahiti. In years to come, she’ll appreciate the assignment and can re-read about her childhood adventures on a tall ship.

The first one we received was this photo from Bianca Nickel. The photo, taken aboard Royal Clipper, shows Claudio Sebastian Bonato, a member of the sports team, with Bianca’s younger brother Robert.

Richard and Claudio Sebastian Bonato on board Royal Clipper

My wife and I had the most memorable experience on Star Flyer on an Australian Charter of the vessel from Istanbul to Athens back in June 2006. The first four photos were taken at the harbour in Kusadasi. The monster next to the Star Flyer is the HAL ship Noordam. The last photo is taken from the cliffs of Santorini.

It was actually an amazing incident, as the Noordam was stuck in Kusadasi. As we were sailing into Kusadasi on the Star Flyer, the cruise director, Peter, came over the PA saying that there had been an alert for a “man overboard.” As we were sailing towards the area, the alert was called off because the Noordam had gotten there first and picked “them” up. It turned out there were a number of people overboard, apparently refugees. The Noordam was unable to leave Kusadasi that night because of the regulations requiring the situation to be clarified before they could leave. That was my understanding as to why the Noordam was still there next to the Star Flyer at that hour of night.

All the best,
Michael Pal
Perth, Australia

Star Flyer alongside with Noordam at Kusadasi, Turkey.

Star Flyer anchored at Santorini, Greece.

Welcome to Star Clippers’ new blog. The Star Clippers Blog Web site will serve as the portal for news and information, images and video, gossip and discussion about Star Clippers and its fleet of three tall ships. We’re happy to have you browse through our pages and read all of the latest news about Star Clippers.

While a large number of posts will come from the ships’ staff, we encourage guests to send in posts as well. If you sailed on a Star Clippers ship and took some photos you’d like to share, please send them to us with your name, who is in the photo, what ship you sailed on and where you are if in port. You can send these to info@starclippersblog.com. Don’t worry about sizing, we’ll take care of that.

We also invite you to send in questions or post comments on the different entries. To post a comment, you’ll need to register, but your information will not be shared with anyone. Our goal is to make this the most interactive blog possible and to create an online community of folks who are fans of Star Clippers.

We’re very excited about this new adventure, and we hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as we enjoy producing it. Again, welcome!