Everyone I have spoken to, that has been to Croatia, has raved about it. The general consensus is that Croatia is their favourite destination, and it is stunning. We had to see what all the fuss was about!
We had just finished some island hopping in the Greek Islands, so contemplated doing the same in Croatia. In the end we agreed a cruise would be the best way to see the Dalmatian Coast in the amount of time we had available. Next decision to make, was which Cruise and which cruise company, to choose?
Size of the Ship
Croatia is stunning, and its islands that are dotted along the Dalmatian Coast, have small ports that can’t accommodate large ships. Therefore, small ship cruising is the way to go. You could go with the private sailing boat option, but we wanted the facilities, service and stability that a small ship offers.
Advantages of a Small Ship Croatian Cruise
The advantages to small ship cruising are numerous:
- Small ship cruising gives you access to smaller islands that are problematic to reach using public transport such as ferries.
- Small ship cruising allows dockside access to the town/port, which means no hassles with shore transfers and gives you the freedom to explore the town at night at your leisure, without worrying about how to get back to the ship. In fact, our choice of small ship Croatian Cruise company, Sail Croatia, docks overnight at each port, allowing you to stay out dancing all night if that’s what takes your fancy!
- Small ships are the ‘just right’ size of cruise ship. Large enough, but still intimate enough, to facilitate meeting new people and making new friendships. Small enough, so you don’t feel overcrowded with large groups of people, yet spacious enough to be able to find a quiet spot to read your holiday book or have a little sundeck siesta.
- Cruising on a small ship, allows you to relax without worrying about cooking or shopping for food, with chef prepared meals using local ingredients, but still having the freedom of trying local restaurants onshore and experiencing local culture.
- One big advantage of small ship cruising for people that suffer from sea sickness, is smooth sailing! Small ships can sail in the sheltered waters between the protected islands along the Dalmatian Coast, reducing exposure to rough seas and possible sea sickness.
- Finally, if you are like me and dream of swimming off the back of a boat in the crystal-clear blue Croatian waters, small ships allow you to do that. With daily swim stops, if you are feeling brave like my travel buddy, you can even jump off the side of the boat! You can’t do that off the side of an ocean liner!
Our Choice
There are numerous Croatian cruise companies to choose from. We did our research and chose Sail Croatia because they had overwhelmingly good reviews, offered various itineraries and you can tailor your cruising experience to your own tastes. For more details of our cruise itinerary, read here.
Personalized Cruise Options
With Sail Croatia, there are a range of small ships on offer that sail each itinerary, ranging in different price points. We chose a mid-price range ship, the Salve di Mare. We chose a lower deck cabin, actually the upper deck cabins had sold out! If you are thinking about booking, get in early to avoid disappointment. This also allows you to make a payment plan to break up the cost. The Salve di Mare cabins offer private spacious bathrooms, comfortable beds and air conditioning. The common areas are tastefully decorated with a spa pool and a large sundeck with enough sunbeds for everyone – no bagging sunbeds required!
Itineraries
Not only can you choose the ship that suits your taste, with Sail Croatia, you can also choose the style of itinerary you want. We are in our 50’s, we still want to have fun but not interested in a party cruise – we’ll leave that to the 20 somethings! Sail Croatia caters for the young party animals with their Navigator cruise option.
We chose the Explorer cruise itinerary, which provided the perfect amount of adventure for us. The Explorer cruise had a wonderful mix of passengers onboard as well. With ages ranging from mid 20’s to mid 70’s, everyone got on wonderfully and we made lots of new friends that we are still in contact with. Other cruise options include the Elegance Cruise (for a more refined cruising experience), Cycling cruises and Hiking cruises for those wanting to get their heart rate up a little. All cruises sail between Dubrovnik and Split, either one way or return to port of departure – except the cycle cruise, which only departs from, and returns to, Split.
Cabins and Common Areas
As mentioned above, our cabin was on the lower deck, with twin beds, air conditioning and private bathroom. Plenty of room for 2 large suitcases. Even though they advise you to pack light, we had already been traveling for 2 weeks, and still had 2 to go, so suitcases had to come onboard! There are a total of 20 cabins on the Salve Di Mare, 12 on the upper deck and 8 on the lower.
We spent a lot of time on the spacious sundeck, sipping cocktails, reading books and chatting to our new friends. There is also a comfortable outdoor lounge area adjacent to the dining room, on the same deck as the splash pool. Down one more level, will bring you to the swimming platform, which everyone made good use of at our daily swim stops.
This YouTube video will give you a good feel for the ship. The beauty of docking alongside other small ships is that you get to walk through them, heading on and off the ship, and you can have a little stickybeak at what the other ships are like. I have to say Salve di Mare was right up there as one of the nicer looking ships in the fleet.
A Typical Day Onboard
To help you decide whether a small ship Croatian cruise is for you, I will give a little run down of what a typical day onboard the ship looks like.
Apart from embarkation day, the ship typically sets sail for the next port early in the morning. After your prepared breakfast in the dining room, you are free to use the ships facilities as you would like. There is a swim stop during the day, before or after lunch, where you have plenty of time to splash around, snorkel, or standup paddleboard.
Before reaching each port, the Cruise Manager gives a little talk about the town we are visiting and gives his recommendations and suggestions on activities to do and gives you the opportunity to sign up for whatever activities you are interested in. Each day a detailed map of the town is displayed on the notice board with places of interest marked, as well as the itinerary distributed digitally.
Once in port, your time is your own, explore as you wish or join whatever activity you signed up for. The ship stays in port overnight, so as long as you are back on board by daybreak, the night is yours. I will go into more detail about specific activities on offer, in my post on our Dubrovnik to Split cruise.
The Crew
I can’t speak highly enough of the crew. All were friendly, patient and professional. Special shout out goes to our Cruise manager Stjepan (Steven), who was incredibly knowledgeable about each port we were visiting, had a wicked, dry sense of humour, but most importantly, looked after the passengers on board and made sure everything ran smoothly. He went above and beyond for me, when I had a little accident in port one evening. Stjepan personally drove me to the hospital in Split, spoke to the hospital staff in Croatian, explaining what had happened and made sure I was ok. He even offered to come and pick me up when I was finished if I needed it. 5 stars!!
Useful Information
The Cruise has lots of inclusions, however, alcohol is not one of them. Bear this is mind as you are enjoying those lovely beverages on the sundeck. To give you an idea of cost, the average glass of wine cost 7 Euro. The bar tab needs to be paid up before you dock in the last port. I think Milana and I had one of the lowest bar tabs of all the passengers! Go us!!
With the exception of the Captain’s dinner, evening meals are not included with your package. Dinner is usually in Port at a local restaurant at your own expense, and your Cruise manager will give you some dining suggestions for each port. There is an optional BBQ offered for dinner one night onboard the ship. The BBQ costs extra, but on our cruise, most guests opted to stay onboard and have the BBQ for dinner.
Someone has asked me what the dress code is on board the Salve Di Mare. The basic answer is pretty casual, you are on holidays after all. There is a Captain’s dinner that passengers tend to dress up a bit more for, but it’s not over the top. Pack some walking shoes as there are some activities on shore that require them. You will spend a lot of your time onboard in swimmers and a sarong – so don’t forget the sunscreen!
We are from Australia, so are not very familiar with tipping, but it is expected that you tip the crew at the end of the cruise. Each cabin is supplied with 2 envelopes – one with a tip for the Cruise Manager and one for the rest of the crew (to be split evenly among them). A suggested amount is given, but ultimately, it’s up to you how much you give.
If you have any other questions about a Sail Croatia small ship Croatian cruise not covered in this post, please send me a message and I will happily try to answer it. More details about our fabulous 7 Day Dubrovnik to Split cruise is coming soon in a new post. Make sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss it!
