Yoga cruises: salute the sun in the Mediterranean When not teaching she would be chatting animatedly, tailoring her advice to include special exercises for those with hip replacements, or introducing power yoga for those with more energy. Yoga may have been the punctuation that started and ended my day - saluting the sun each morning and evening - but in between we relaxed and sunbathed on board, took day trips ashore and waterskied, snorkelled, dived or dinghy sailed - or climbed the mast - with the on-board sports team. The wine flowed freely, despite being an extra cost. Each night we sat down to a five-course meal (for the true yogis there was always a vegetarian option) and the staff were only too happy to accommodate my personal dietary foibles, banning carbs and dairy products. Quite a few of the other passengers regarded the yoga with bemusement. Many were there for the relaxed informality of the Star Clipper cruises, the intimacy of a small ship - Star Flyer takes 170 passengers and a crew of 70 - and the chance to properly sail and to visit the stunning smaller bays and harbours that the larger cruise liners cannot access. Our itinerary took us around the Mediterranean, setting sail from Monte Carlo then heading for Corsica with its exquisite little port of Calvi and a deserted Robinson Crusoe-style beach, followed by charming Bonifacio. We continued with a brief stop at Sardinia, then on to the tiny Italian island of Giglio, and finally Lerici - on the Italian Riviera - before turning back to St Tropez and Cannes. A first-time cruiser, I revelled in the novelty of arriving at a new port by sea each morning (as travellers would have done centuries ago), watching as the historic spires, ramparts and rooftops came into view, and being able to wander the streets without a thought for the inevitable trappings of modern life - the airport, motorways or industrial estates you'd inevitably pass when travelling on land. My only disappointment, after five days at sea, was that the weather had been so glorious and the sea so utterly calm and flat that we hadn't truly sailed. The sails did go up once in a while, more for show than effect, and always to the sound of Vangelis's Conquest of Paradise, but they would then hang empty and lifeless in the still, warm air. But on our penultimate night a huge storm blew up. I woke clinging to the edges of my narrow single bed and had to use every yoga-honed muscle in my body to climb the steep stairs to the deck. For 12 hours the ship dipped, rolled and heaved. The wind became so strong - at one point the Captain's equipment measured a force 9 gale - and the swell so large that two of the sails ripped. No one turned up for yoga that morning (although Christel was apparently waiting for us) and only the true salty sea dogs made it up on deck at all, each of us clinging to the rails and thrilled by the majesty of the elements, even when we were slapped in the face by the massive waves that crashed over the bow. Only when the wind died down later that afternoon did other passengers emerge, trickling out of their cabins; many, including some crew, green-gilled and reeling. Sailing ships don't have the stabilisers of the larger cruise liners and that's when you realise that you might just need your sea legs on a trip like this. But a bit of wind did not faze Christel. As I staggered to the back of the ship, hand-over-hand, to join the thrill-seekers on the rollercoaster that was the aft deck, I spotted her lying there, contorted into a structurally impossible origami fold, breathing deeply and lost in her own yogic bliss. That's when I vowed to keep up the yoga back home. Perhaps not twice a day, and sadly not on an open deck before a painfully beautiful sunset, but certainly with that wonderful memory forever imprinted on my mind. Last-minute deals Star Clippers ((0845 200 6145; starclippers.co.uk) offers a 21-night Royal Clipper Transatlantic Eastbound cruise from Barbados to Rome, with yoga classes by Christel Vollmer, departing April 7. Late deal - from £2,190 per person. A five-night cruise from Malaga to Rome on board Royal Clipper, departing April 23 costs from £1,080 per person. Yoga in the Baltics A seven-night sailing from Oslo to Copenhagen on Star Flyer, departing May 26, costs from £1,490 per person with free ﬂight offer where available). Click here for full details and to book Alternative departures on board Star Flyer (excluding ﬂights): June 17 Cruise only from £1029 per person. August 18 Cruise only from £1489 per person.