"Tall Ships represent romance to a woman, adventure to a man." Or so a cruise-line marketing whiz once told me.

In my book, white canvas sails puffed by the breeze are the perfect accessory for romance, far better than a ruffled parasol or a bearskin rug, because gliding across the high seas seems to make most men act, if not look, like Mel Gibson. Although I don't care whether the sails are set by sailors in the rigging or by a computer on the bridge, the method used on the Windstar and Club Med ships, some purists of my acquaintance insist on traditional vessels.

So I set out to track down some of those majestic beauties that carry passengers and came up with the following, three of them classic ships more than 50 years old -- Sea Cloud, Victory Chimes and Sir Francis Drake -- and one brand-new vessel, the Star Clipper. That one is not only the newest but, with masts 226 feet high, is also the world's tallest ship. Except for Sea Cloud, whose fees includes everything from shore excursions to special lectures, a cruise on one of these luxurious, intimate vessels is comparable in price to that charged by most other cruise ships -- definitely a plus in these money-conscious times.

One detail to remember -- sailing ships do not stick to itineraries as steadfastly as bigger cruise liners, since winds and sea conditions may necessitate last-minute port changes. But flexibility is actually part of the fun.

Sir Francis Drake
Regardless of what I had heard, I had not expected the Panama-registry, 165-foot Sir Francis Drake from Tall Ship Adventures to be quite so abrupt a change of pace from the standard cruise ship. Granted, being docked in Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard during last summer's Tall Ships celebration is not quite the same as being anchored off the Virgin Islands, the vessel's winter and spring venue, where passengers can board on Mondays for a three- or seven-day cruise and on Thursdays for a four- or seven-day sailing. Still, as an amateur in the world of barefoot boat sailing, I didn't want to give myself away and so kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth mostly shut.

"This cruise is complete and total relaxation," my new friend Norma from Detroit says emphatically. She's one of the group of frequent passengers aboard the vessel during the Boston sailing. "The first day you're a little uptight, the second day you begin to unwind and by the seventh day, you don't have a clue what's happening in the world and you don't care."

In the Caribbean, she confides, "The captain knows some hot spots in the islands, and we manage to party quite late."

"Wherever the bands are, that's usually where we go," a voice from a passerby chimes in. It's the Sir Francis Drake's captain and co-owner, New Zealand-born Brian Petley, who has been known to show up at the Tuesday night B.L.T. (buccaneer, lingerie or toga) costume party in filmy lingerie with his captain's bars pinned on one spaghetti strap.

"We advertise ourselves as a middle-of-the-road soft adventure," he adds, "not as luxurious as the Star Clipper or Sea Cloud, but a bit less basic than the Maine Windjammers or the Windjammer Barefoot Cruises."

What he means, I soon learn, is that while the cabins are carpeted and have private bathrooms with shower, acceptable dinner attire can be bare feet and shorts, except perhaps at the Sunday night captain's dinner. "That's when I dress in my uniform," Petley says.

The Sir Francis Drake was built in 1917 as a cargo-carrying sailing ship with no engine, and went around Cape Horn carrying copper ore from Chile to Europe. An engine was installed in the 1920s, after which tahe ship spent 40 years carrying cargo in the Baltic and North seas. Four years ago Petley and his partner Eckart Straub refurbished it and put it in passenger operation.

In the tiny galley on the main deck, the chef prepares menus that mix popular standards like hamburgers and barbecued ribs with elegant lobster sandwiches on homemade bread and Caribbean-accented specialties like chidken-and-shrimp stir-fry and West Indian baked chicken.

The usual drill in the U.S. and British Virgin islands is to sail in the mornings, anchor at midday and have lunch on the beach, spending the afternoon snorkeling, swimming, windsurfing, sailing or water skiing. Although all the necessary water-sports gear is on board, repeat passengers like Norma bring their own.

"All you need to pack are shorts, T-shirts and tennis shoes, plus snorkeling equipment if you want," she says, eyeing my plump suitcase, which is still sprawled on the deck waiting for the cabins to be made up.

I finally get up my nerve to confess this is my first time on a very casual cruise like this.

"I didnŐt know what to expect the first time either," she laughs. A friend and I went down to the Virgin islands looking for something different to do and accidentally ran across the brochure the first day. We sailed to a totally uninhabited island, and I fell in love with the Caribbean."

For the second time, Norma is traveling with her friend Ron who works in a stress-filled job, as she does. He came back again after she showed him two photos from their first cruise together -- "a 'before' when he looks tense and stressed out, and an 'after' when he looks happy and relaxed."

"The people we get don't ever want to go back on a floating hotel or a wimp cruise again," the captain says cheerfully.

I'll second that notion. Although I do wonder how I'll look Tuesday night, barefoot and wrapped in a bedsheet for a toga.