It was the very first morning of our stay on the 122-passenger S/V Legacy, a wooden, four-masted sailing ship headed for the British Virgin Islands, when I started to realize how different the feel of this was going to be compared to the many, many mass-market Caribbean cruises I've endured. Following a breakfast buffet liberally lubricated by pitchers of Bloody Marys tucked beside the fruit juices, we stood on deck watching the crew and a few passenger volunteers yanking the thick ropes that lifted the sails and sent us on our way. Over the P.A. system came the strains of "Amazing Grace" -- corny, absolutely, but I'll be darned if a reverential hush didn't fall over us all.

The rest of the trip was anything but reverential -- combining interludes of do-nothing bliss with genial socializing and plenty of moments from the silly to the saucy. It's a personality with a pedigree stretching back a half-century. Started by a discharged sailor in 1947 with a ship he won in a poker game, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises has since occupied a niche all by itself. Similar in some ways to Club Med among land resorts, it has a semi-cultlike following of "Jammers" who are passionate about the intimate feel and freewheeling, unique personality of the seven sail-driven, small ships that currently ply the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Although prices are moderate -- $1,200 to $1,300 is the average cost per person for a six-night sailing -- they are no lower than you'd pay on one of the 3,000-passenger behemoths that now dominate the standard cruise industry. But on Windjammer, you're in a ship with only a hundred or so other passengers, and the experience is incomparable and totally different from those giant cities at sea that now make up the cruise industry. Once people have experienced Windjammer, they usually come back for more (the company estimates its repeat business at more than 40 percent).

Itineraries tend to emphasize smaller scale, often more off- the-beaten-path ports of call (including the British Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra off Puerto Rico, Belize, Costa Rica, Venezuela's Puerto La Cruz and Margarita Island). Though on-board accommodations vary, they tend to be fluorescent-lit and rather basic, yet comfy and snug. The Caribbean-inflected on-board food is serviceable rather than inspired.

There's no casino and no bingo, and passing the time is more often than not a definitely laid-back experience -- whether reading a book or hanging at the bar on the main deck and chatting with other passengers. Those who want to can also help raise the sails or take a turn at the helm. It's the social interaction on a Windjammer cruise, in fact, which is the real secret to the whole experience. Such is its effect on many people that lifelong friendships forged at sea are not uncommon.

For bookings or more information, call tel. 800/327-2600 or check out the website at www.windjammer.com.

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Labels: caribbean, cruise