Croatian and Adriatic Coastal Cruise Blog

Diary From Croatian and Adriatic Coastal Cruise

2006-08-02T10:44:00.000+01:00

Departure Date: 9 July 2006
Ship: MS Arion
Booked through: Cruising Holidays

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Rijeka
Day 2 - Pula
Day 3 - Zadar
Day 4 am - Split
Day 4 pm - Korcula
Day 5 - Dubrovnik
Day 6 - Kotor
Day 7 - Ploce
Day 8 - Rijeka

Travel and Transfers:

OUTBOUND:
Air France flight from Birmingham to Paris.
Joined Blue Line flight from Paris to Rijeka depart 14.30pm.
Transferred from Rijeka airport to the ship by coach.

RETURN:
Transfer from Ship to Rijeka Airport.
Blue Line charter back from Rijeka to Paris Depart 16.30.
British Airways flight from Paris to Manchester Depart 21.10

Points of interest:
- Croatia has pebble beaches so if you’re planning on swimming, pack swim shoes.
- If you would like to use electric goods, pack an adapter plug for European 2 pronged plugs.
- Although most customers are French, there was always an English translation of the ships announcements and a person to translate on the excursions. I found English TV channels on my cabin’s TV and the films shown in the lounge were subtitled in English.
- Ensure your watch is set correctly to local time so that you get to the plane, boat, excursion buses on time.
- On the first evening you can speak to the Maitre D to arrange where you will sit for the week for the evening meal. Breakfasts and Lunches can be taken in the Restaurant seated at any table or from a Buffet in the Lido bar where you can also sit at tables outside.
- The temperatures were mostly between 25C and 32C with blue skies and sunshine.
Do take an umbrella with you on excursions as it rained briefly twice on inland excursions and it is as well to be prepared.
- There is a high level of cleanliness on board. The swimming pool is emptied and cleaned out every day and the cabins are cleaned and tidied morning and evening.
- There is a lift on MS Arion and it offers a good cruise for disabled passengers with their helper. The morning excursions to the places where we had docked were mostly suitable for disabled and the Cruise Director will advise on the suitability of the other excursions.
- The food is good with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits and choices of fish, dark and light meat and vegetarian option. Look out for their amazing carved vegetable and fruit displays.
- Every day there was some light entertainment in the lounge from an easy music band to Luca, an Italian singer, a troupe of dancing girls and an opportunity for holiday makers to get up on the dance floor themselves. There were also interesting historical and political lectures on the Balkans in both French and English as well as screening of films in the afternoons.
- The optional excursions are described on the first evening followed by the opportunity to sign up for the various excursions. The organisers prefer that choose your excursions that first evening so that they can organise the appropriate transfers. Prices ranged from 15 Euros to around 70 Euros depending on the excursion.
- Croatia’s currency is the Kuna: 1 UK pound = 10.5 Kuna approx.
Montenegro’s currency is the Euro. Currency used to pay for the excursions and your final bill on board ship is Euro. I suggest only changing small amounts of money at a time into Kuna so that you aren’t left with Kuna at the end of the trip.
- The suggested tip for your cabin steward is around 5 Euros per day, but of course that is up to you.

Day 8 - Sunday 16 July - Rijeka

2006-07-16T10:40:00.000+01:00

Our flight left in the afternoon so this morning I joined the excursion out to Opatija, which is known to the Croatians as the ‘First Lady of Tourism’. This wealthy seaside town has much Austria-Hungarian influence and its’ gentle climate is always about 5C degrees cooler that Rijeka. We strolled along the front and particularly enjoyed visiting the Villa Angelina, which a wealthy Italian had built for his wife. Next to this was a beautiful gardens with many different species of plant that had been brought for Angelina by her numerous houseguests.

There was one more splendid view for me on this holiday. Flying home I was fortunate enough to sit by the window and was able to look down as we flew over the majestic Alps and their glaciers. All in all, the Croatia and Adriatic Cruise aboard MS Arion was a splendid trip and one that I would highly recommend.

Day 7 - Saturday 15 July - Ploce

2006-07-15T10:36:00.000+01:00

This morning we woke up in Ploce, which is a commercial port located in central Dalmatia and the Croatians have not prettied this up for tourists yet. Today is a good day to do an excursion and there are two on offer; an optional tour to the famous old city of Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina and Medjugorje, which is like a Croatian Lourdes. The other tour went off to the beach and I took advantage of this excursion, as it was good to have a restful morning with a book, looking out across the beautiful Mediterranean with Fir trees to shade when the sun got too warm. This evening we enjoyed the sumptuous food of the Captain’s dinner, followed by entertainment from the Fortuna Band and the New Generation dance group dancing to the theme of the Moulin Rouge with lots of ruffles and feathers.

Day 6 - Friday 14 July - Kotor

2006-07-14T10:33:00.000+01:00

I woke up early this morning in order to get up on deck by the time we started sailing through the extraordinary Kotor bay to Kotor, which is located under high mountains in Montenegro.
This is the largest fjord in the Mediterranean and three blasts of our ship’s horn were given the reply of the welcoming bells of two small island churches. Kotor is encircled with 20m high walls, which give a great view over the fjord. There is a fort at the top and a church half way up the steps. If thinking of climbing all the way to the top, it is a good idea to wear sturdy shoes and start off early before the heat of the sun makes climbing difficult.

We enjoyed the beach in the afternoon and I was fortunate enough to catch a local wedding during an evening stroll through the town. Tonight we had a marvellous late night buffet to celebrate Bastille Day. The ship has one person whose job it is to make intricate food decorations and I felt that the food definitely deserved its’ photo being taken before being consumed!

Day 5 - Thursday 13 July - Dubrovnik

2006-07-13T10:30:00.000+01:00

I visited Dubrovnik twice today, this morning we toured the town and this evening after dinner I joined an optional excursion to the theatre for a folk-lore evening with the Dalmation acapella singers and traditional dancers. This morning we entered by the Pile Gate and were led by our expert English speaking guide through the labyrinth of streets to visit the Franciscan and the Dominican Monastery, the Cathedral, the Rector’s Palace, and St. Blaise’s Church. During our free time I climbed up to the city walls and took photographs of a beautifully restored city. (During the 1991 – 1997 war Dubrovnik was quite badly damaged) The evening theatre trip was delightful, as was walking through the streets in the warm evening, people watching and listening to the buskers.

Day 4 Afternoon - Wednesday 12 July - Korcula

2006-07-12T10:25:00.000+01:00

In the afternoon we sailed to the Medieval island of Korcula - the birthplace of Marco Polo, which we visited. This island is one of the most visited destinations on the Adriatic coast and there were some beautiful yachts in the harbour as well as many different nationalities in the town. The street layout of the town is cleverly constructed to take best advantage of gentle breezes whilst shielding it’s citizens from the stronger gales.

Day 4 Morning - Wednesday 12 July - Split

2006-07-12T10:21:00.000+01:00

We woke up to Split today, which is at the heart of Dalmatia and is famous for the World Heritage site of the roman Emperor Diocletian's Palace. We visited the cellars, which are well preserved and I stood on the raised steps where Diocletian would have looked out over the Forum to his citizens as well is the roofless room where he studied the stars. Across the Forum a group of men were singing acapella Dalmation songs. Their music was charming and they were doing a brisk trade in CD’s as they sang in their traditional blue and white striped shirts. We had opportunity to wander around the old city by ourselves. Watch out for the fabulous Gelati ice-cream stands!

Day 3 - Tuesday 11 July - Zadar

2006-07-11T10:16:00.000+01:00

The morning’s walking tour of Zadar showed us many buildings and churches of historical interest. You can see the Venetian influence in the decorations and towers. Our excursion leader told us that Croatia is more catholic than the pope and we visited a collection of church art known as 'The Gold and Silver of Zadar'. Zadar is also famous for it’s beautiful embroidery, which is displayed out in the market.

This afternoon I joined with an excursion to an amazingly beautiful Nature reserve called the Plitvice Lakes. We walked around the lakes on board walks viewing the turquoise, clear waters and numerous trout as well as the stunning waterfalls. The trip involved about 2.5 hours of walking as well as a boat ride across one of the lakes. If you are up for the walk, this is one excursion not to be missed!

Day 2 - Monday 10 July - Pula

2006-07-10T10:13:00.000+01:00

Today I realised how much interesting culture and history Croatia has. This morning we did a walking tour of the impressive Roman amphitheatre, where gladiators used to fight and great concerts, with people like Pavarotti and Mick Hucknall, now take place. In the afternoon I joined up with an excursion to the medieval hill top villages of Motovun and Groznjan. Motovun is famous for an annual film festival that is held there and Groznjan is called the village of artists because so many live and work there. There are also musicians and we were treated to delightful violin music coming through an open window.

Day 1 - Sunday 9 July - Rijeka

2006-07-09T09:59:00.000+01:00

We arrived a Rijeka Airport to beautiful weather and the Rivages du Monde representatives holding signs to welcome us and show us the transfer buses. These representatives were very helpful throughout the holiday and each spoke between 2 and 5 languages, with English often being spoken. There was a good mixture of French, Italians, Dutch and English holidaymakers on our cruise with the majority being French. The ages ranged from a baby to one 87-year-old lady. The majority were older but there were some children (as it was the summer holidays) and a number of young childless couples as well as a number of single people who enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends on the excursions and in the restaurant. MS Arion is a medium sized ship taking around 300 passengers with around 120 crewmembers. My cabin was neat with a square window with unobstructed view. For two people the space in the wardrobe may have been a little limited but there was plenty of space under the bed to store items in suitcases.