Trips for 2027 and 2028
Twice Told StoriesSeven nights on the Royal Clipper, island to island through the stories, round trip from Barbados.
Seven nights on the Royal Clipper, a five-masted tall ship with 42 sails and the largest full-rigged sailing ship in the world. We sail round trip from Bridgetown, Barbados, and stop at a different island every day. On the way to Dominica she sails alongside her sister ship, Star Flyer.
Before we go, the group reads and watches together online: Caribbean novels, a pirate classic, a mermaid love story, and the films shot on these islands. Then we go and see the places they came from.
The Essentials
| Dates | Saturday 15 to Saturday 22 January 2028. |
| Nights | Seven nights on board. |
| Ship | Royal Clipper (Star Clippers), round trip from Bridgetown, Barbados. |
| Group | Up to 20 guests. |
| Before you go | Reading, films and music together from August 2027, with two video calls a month, just for the group. |
| Host | Stacy Earl, on board with you all week. |
| Price | Per person, sharing a cabin with a window: Category 4 $4,550 · Category 3 $4,700 · Category 2 $4,850. |
The Week
The ship sails at night and anchors by morning. Each day has one story stop on shore, and the rest of the day is yours: a beach, a swim off the ship's marina platform, or a deck chair under the sails. The plan below is a draft; the final days go to the waiting list.
Board in the afternoon. The sails go up as we leave harbour, to the ship's own music.
Pigeon Island, where Admiral Rodney's lookouts watched for the French fleet in 1782, next to Gros Islet, the fishing village in Derek Walcott's Omeros.
We sail alongside Star Flyer on the way in. Then a rowing boat up the Indian River, where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest filmed its river scenes, and Fort Shirley. Dominica is Jean Rhys's island.
Nelson's Dockyard, the Georgian naval yard where a young Captain Horatio Nelson served in the 1780s, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Antigua is Jamaica Kincaid's island.
Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO site high above the sea, in the morning. A beach afternoon at South Friar's Bay.
Fort Napoléon on Terre-de-Haut, whose museum tells the story of the 1782 Battle of the Saintes, fought just offshore. Maryse Condé, from nearby Guadeloupe, retold Wuthering Heights in these islands.
A beach stop on Martinique, the last night under sail, and a farewell dinner on board.
Back in Barbados in the morning, and home.
The Reading
From August 2027 the group reads one book a month, each tied to an island we visit, with film nights and a playlist. The final list goes to the waiting list first. These are the books we're planning around.
What's Included
| The ship | 7 nights on the Royal Clipper in a cabin with a window, with all meals on board. |
| The reading months | From August 2027: books, films and music, with two video calls a month, just for the group. |
| Host | Stacy Earl, on board with you all week. |
| Shore days | One story stop on each island. Details go to the waiting list. |
| Not included | Flights to and from Barbados. Drinks. Personal spending. Travel insurance, which is required. Port charges and gratuities: details to the waiting list. |
| Price | Per person, sharing: Category 4 $4,550 · Category 3 $4,700 · Category 2 $4,850. Solo prices go to the waiting list. |
Nothing is owed and no cabin is allocated yet. The waiting list is the order we contact people in. The reading months begin in August 2027.
Join the waiting list →Get the reading list for this trip.