Can this ship be booked?

No. She is laid up in heavy reconstruction at a Maltese yard since November 2025, absent from her owner's calendar and from the fleet the line displays. No return-to-service date is published.

Will she come back as before?

No. After the refit, the trade press announces a capacity reduced to around twenty guests. The sixty-four-passenger sailing cruise ship people knew will not come back in that form.

A third-party owner, not the company selling you the trip. The line's regulatory filing separates its twelve owned ships from its chartered ones; this one is among the chartered.

How many names has she carried?

At least five: her launch name in 1931, Sea Cloud from 1935, a military service name, Angelita under a Dominican dictator, then two others before taking her name back in 1979.

How does her rig work?

Four-masted barque, twenty-nine sails, around three thousand square metres of canvas, worked entirely by hand by some fifteen hands aloft. There is no mechanical assistance for that.

Are crew gratuities included?

No. They are included on only four ships in this fleet, all owned by the line. On the chartered ships, this one among them, they stay on the traveller's account.

Is there a lift aboard?

None is documented. On a 1931 hull the stairs are steep and the passageways narrow: a constraint of the period that the refit may change, though nobody knows in which direction.

What is the link with National Geographic?

A brand licence agreement, extended to 2040. National Geographic does not own the line and operates no ship. It supplies lecturers and specialists who sail aboard.

Where is the ship today?

At a Maltese yard, in heavy reconstruction since November 2025. Neither her owner nor the line publishes a return date, and we will not invent one.

What do you suggest instead?

The Sea Cloud II, a more recent sailing ship from the same owner, still in service in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Write to us describing what you were after and we will see what comes close.

How many travellers did she carry?

Sixty-four, in thirty-two all-outside cabins, across three decks. That was the cruise configuration before she was laid up, and it is not the one that will come back.

What protection do I have booking from Quebec?

Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur. Your payments move through a trust account and the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents covers your file as the law provides.

Sea Cloud II

Q: What is this ship's history?

Built in 1931 for an American heiress, she was at her launch the largest private yacht in the world. Her commissioner designed the interiors and took marine engineering classes to supervise the build.

Q: Did she serve in the war?

Yes. Chartered to the United States Navy for one dollar a year in 1942, commissioned as a weather observation vessel, then transferred to the Navy. She was returned to her owner in late 1944.

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Sea Cloud II

The Sea Cloud II is a Lindblad Expeditions ship offering a luxury sailing cruise aboard a tall ship, providing an intimate and high-end expedition-style experience at sea. It offers voyages focused on traditional sailing, cultural exploration, and the discovery of maritime destinations within an elegant and immersive setting. This cruise highlights a nature- and sea-focused approach centered on authentic sailing experiences, combining modern comfort with maritime heritage. The small sailing vessel provides a refined atmosphere and a responsible travel experience oriented toward discovery and the slow rhythm of sea travel. It is particularly suited to travelers seeking an intimate luxury sailing cruise focused on maritime experience and cultural discovery.

Itineraries of the Sea Cloud II

Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.

Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.

It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.

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decks plans

Sun Deck

Lido Deck

Lounge

Promenade Deck

Reception

Cabin Deck

Gym

Technical specifications

Tonnage: 2532
Speed: 14.0 knots
Passengers: 118
Decks: 4
Length: 96 m
Width: 15 m

History

1931: Année de construction
2011: Année de rénovation

The ship is not sailing

Let us say it first, because it is what concerns you: the Sea Cloud is laid up. She has been in heavy reconstruction at a Maltese yard since November 2025. She is absent from her own owner's 2026 and 2027 calendar, and absent from the fleet the line displays. No return-to-service date is published. There is nothing to book on this page.

One point that matters for what comes next: after the refit, the trade press announces a capacity reduced to around twenty guests. The product as it existed, a sixty-four-passenger sailing cruise ship, will not come back in that form.

Why this page stays online

Because this ship has a history few hulls can claim, and people look for it. Built in 1931 at a German yard for an American heiress and her financier husband, she was at her launch the largest private yacht in the world. Her commissioner designed the interiors herself and took marine engineering classes to supervise the project.

What follows reads like fiction. A floating residence and diplomatic showcase when her owner's second husband was ambassador to the USSR and then Belgium. Chartered to the United States Navy for one dollar a year in 1942, commissioned as a weather observation vessel, then transferred to the Navy. Under Lieutenant Carlton Skinner from late 1944, she became the first racially integrated warship in the United States armed forces since the Civil War, with some fifty Black sailors and two Black officers. The painter Jacob Lawrence served aboard.

Then: state yacht of a Dominican dictator under the name Angelita, two further names, eight years abandoned alongside in Panama, then a German purchase in 1978 and a return to service as a cruise ship in 1979. Four-masted barque, twenty-nine sails, around three thousand square metres of canvas worked by hand by some fifteen hands aloft, a gilded eagle figurehead. The hull belongs to a German owner; the line chartered her.

The ships you can book

The Sea Cloud II is a more recent sailing ship, still in service. The Lord of the Glens sails in Scotland. The National Geographic Orion and the National Geographic Explorer are expedition ships.

What this trip asks of you from Montreal

An international flight not included in the fare, and often an internal flight on top. Total travel time surprises many people: these regions are not reached in a day.

Arrive the day before at the very least. It is the only margin that absorbs a delay, a lost bag or a sleepless flight. Many of our clients take two nights on site before embarking and have never regretted the expense.

Our advisors bring flight, expedition, hotels, transfers and insurance into a single file protected by Quebec's compensation fund for travel agency customers. We verify the real dates before anything is booked.