Sailing in Style on the Sea Cloud : The ship offers an unforgettable sight and a glimpse into lifestyles of the rich and famous of the 1930s.

One of the Caribbean’s most unforgettable sights is a glimpse of the 316-foot tall ship Sea Cloud heeling lightly in the seas, her 29 sails billowing in the wind. And to be a passenger disembarking from the magnificent sailing yacht guarantees instant celebrity in every port of the world.

Owned by a consortium of nine German yachtsmen, the 70-passenger, four-masted square-rigger travels under charter in the Mediterranean in summer, the eastern Caribbean in winter. For the past several years, New York-based Special Expeditions has been the major American charterer.

Although most of the sailings this winter have sold out, Special Expeditions president Sven-Olof Lindblad says some space is still available aboard an 11-day Caribbean sailing departing April 11.

While the Sea Cloud maintains its classic yachting style on all of its cruises, those operated by Lindblad’s company add naturalist and artist lecturers, excursions ashore to see native flora and fauna, and frequent swimming and snorkeling stops.

But in addition to the thrill of cruising under sail, the ship offers an interesting look at the lifestyles of the very rich and famous in the 1930s, with antique-filled interiors of marble and carved-oak paneling, of teak and polished wood decks and accents of gleaming brass.

Designed by the renowned firm of Cox & Stevens and built for $1 million in 1931 in the Krupp yard in Kiel, Germany, the steel-hulled ship was the largest privately owned yacht in the world when she was delivered to American cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her then-husband, financier E.F. Hutton. The couple and their daughter, actress Dina Merrill, sailed it all over the world for six months of every year.

After service as an offshore weather and submarine station during World War II, the ship was re-rigged and set sail again in 1947 as a private yacht. But even the wealthy Mrs. Post had difficulty maintaining the ship and its full-time staff of 72, so she traded it to Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1953 in exchange for a 44-passenger Viscount propjet.

In 1963, a Panama-based company, Operation Sea Cruises, bought the ship and renamed it the Antarna, with the intention of carrying cruise passengers. But since it could carry only a dozen or so, the income generated would not sustain the business.

A German merchant captain named Hartmut Paschburg recognized the ship as it lay in anchor in Cristobal and brought it to the attention of a group of German yachtsmen, who bought it for $750,000 in 1978, sailed it across the Atlantic with a volunteer crew, and spent $7.5 million restoring, refurbishing and redesigning the ship to carry 70 passengers. It entered cruise service in 1978.

The current crew, which numbers 60 to 65, is only slightly smaller than in Mrs. Post’s day.

Capt. Edward Cassidy, formerly the master of the U.S. Coast Guard sailing ship Eagle, has commanded the Sea Cloud for the past 10 years. The vessel is equipped with four diesel engines, but it goes under sail whenever possible and emphasizes itineraries that allow frequent half or full days of sailing.

The Sea Cloud carries 30,000 square feet of sail, with 20 deck crew from 13 countries to set the sails. During our sailing, Capt. Cassidy proudly informed passengers that seven of the crew were women.

The young chefs aboard the ship, most of them from Munich, have trained in one- and two-star Guide Michelin restaurants. Breakfast and lunch are copious buffets, and dinner a fixed menu that is posted early in the day so passengers who prefer alternative dishes can order them in advance.

Fares include a choice of wines at lunch and dinner, all shore excursions and shipboard lectures, and the services of the ship’s doctor.

The ship is inappropriate for children, since there are no separate areas for them. It is also not recommended for people who have difficulty walking, because there is no elevator and several narrow stairways to negotiate indoors and out.

Besides the handsome decks, the public areas include a library/sitting room and dining room indoors, plus a large outdoor Lido deck and bar shaded with canvas, an open sun deck with lounging chairs, and a cushioned area aft that lolling sunbathers call the Blue Lagoon.

The ship anchors occasionally and lowers a gangway for passengers to swim in the sea. And if seas permit, once during each cruise a boat is lowered so the passengers can photograph the Sea Cloud under sail.

Prices aboard the Sea Cloud reflect the remark attributed to millionaire J.P. Morgan: “Any man who has to ask about the annual upkeep of a yacht can’t afford one.”

The most sought-after (and most expensive) accommodations on board are the two owners’ suites, which go for about $825 to $950 a day per person, double occupancy. Mrs. Post’s is decorated in Louis XVI style, with a marble fireplace (non-working), marble bathroom with gold faucets, French canopy bed with silk damask, chairs and ottomans upholstered in satin brocade, flower-etched mirrors and gilded moldings.

Other original staterooms, including two single cabins, range from $580 to $860 a day per person, double occupancy. Because the original staterooms are on the lower deck, they have small portholes instead of windows.

Our much more modest Type A cabin, one of the 25 added to the ship when it was turned into a cruise vessel, had a window and was shipshape if not spacious, fitted with two lower bunks with drawers underneath, a built-in dresser with four drawers and a small bathroom with shower.

There was no desk, table or chair, or anywhere to sit except on the beds, but we did get a hair dryer, two terry cloth robes, a bowl of fruit, fresh flowers and a bottle of German champagne. Rates for this Type A stateroom range from about $528 to $605 a day per person, double occupancy.

Only slightly less expensive at prices from about $476 to $546 a day per person, double occupancy, are the Type B accommodations. With similar furnishings as the Type A, these are so compact that it’s best if one occupant gets up, showers, dresses and goes outside so the other will then have room to do the same.

The lower rates quoted above are 1992 fares for the Caribbean, the higher rates the 1993 Caribbean fares. Add-on air fare is available through Special Expeditions.

For the winter of 1993, seven 10- and 11-night Caribbean cruises are scheduled aboard the Sea Cloud by Special Expeditions. Departure dates are Jan. 4 and 14, Feb. 22 and March 5, 15 and 26.

This summer, Special Expeditions will also operate two Mediterranean, Greek Islands and Turkey itineraries aboard the Sea Cloud, leaving Aug. 15 and Sept. 3. The 20-day cruises sail between Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Istanbul, with calls at Capri, Lipari, Taormina, Siracusa, Malta, Crete, Santorini, Lindos, Antalya, Phaselis, Bodrum and Kusadasi. Prices for the sailings range from $8,790 to $14,770 per person, double occupancy, without air fare.

See a travel agent or call Special Expeditions at (800) 762-0003 for more information and brochures.