Croatia, Slolvenia, Montenegro

[CPT Trips]

Entertainment on a small ship (<50 to 100 pax)depends on the talents of the nautical crew and the hotel staff, the video library, and the ports you are in overnight or late. I've been surprised about how musically talented the crews are.

 

We don't do small ships for what most view as the "cruising lifestyle," specialty dining, entertainment options, casinos, and a lot of menu choices.  

 

It's all about the itinerary.

 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

It's all about the itinerary.

 

Thanks hugely for this.  We did a lot of this itinerary on an escorted land tour.  Didn't like it cause you have little free time.  Whereas with a cruise you can do what you want when ashore.  We're crossing our fingers that we can find things like your trip.

BTW, here's a couple of pix which we THINK was in Albania.  Found a few guys at an outside table having beers and food.  The guy in the pic spoke quite good English.  He took me into a next door bakery for this goodie.  And also wrote down his name and phone # in case we had any problem.  Why I love travel 🙂

[CPT Trips]

The company that operates this cruise, among many other itineraries, provides guided tours at each port and also the on board tour leaders offer ad hoc local experiences in many ports. One of my favorite ad hoc  experiences was heading off to a local bar when we overnighted in Split with a couple other passengers and some of the crew to watch Croatia play Iceland for a spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 

 

There are enough organizedactivities to keep folks occupied on a daily basis.  There is also adequate free time in many ports to get off on your own and enjoy whatever it is you enjoy. It's not you if you are the kind of person wants independent travel and don't adapt well to a group tour. 

 

[ducklite]

On 8/22/2019 at 3:54 PM, George C said:

But more entertainment and restaurants on larger ships. Our was fine 12 nights 9 ports and we only tendered twice. Although I do like the thought of overnights at those ports. 

We'd rather have the overnights and eat local foods on shore, and who needs entertainment on a Med cruise?  The ports are all the entertainment I'd ever need.

[WoodstockGirl]

On 8/22/2019 at 10:16 PM, CPT Trips said:

Entertainment on a small ship (<50 to 100 pax)depends on the talents of the nautical crew and the hotel staff, the video library, and the ports you are in overnight or late. I've been surprised about how musically talented the crews are.

 

We don't do small ships for what most view as the "cruising lifestyle," specialty dining, entertainment options, casinos, and a lot of menu choices.  

 

It's all about the itinerary.

 

 

 

On these small ship cruises - like this itinerary you posted and the others mentioned on this thread - is English always the primary spoken language while onboard? 

 

When in port cities, as you walk around on your own, is English commonly spoken or is there a language barrier (since I speak only English).

 

 

 

 

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, WoodstockGirl said:

On these small ship cruises - like this itinerary you posted and the others mentioned on this thread - is English always the primary spoken language while onboard? 

 

When in port cities, as you walk around on your own, is English commonly spoken or is there a language barrier (since I speak only English).

 

The language of the ship is going to depend on the company and their primary customer base. If they have a lot of passengers from Anglo countries there will be more English speaking staff.

As for the ports I can only comment from Zagreb to Kotor and say that there are a lot of people well versed in English and even signs and menus were in English. The only exception might be Korcula were I found Italian seemed to be more common.

 

While I don't have first hand experience considering the popularity of Athens and Delphi English speakers will probably be easy to find and I heard Corfu is popular with British tourists so the locals probably know a fair bit of English. 

[SRF]

That part of the world, I would rent a car, book hotels through a booking site, and ENJOY.

 

Way too many things to do an see to even scratch the surface from a ship.

[SRF]

20 hours ago, WoodstockGirl said:

When in port cities, as you walk around on your own, is English commonly spoken or is there a language barrier (since I speak only English).

 

I have traveled to 149 countries.  And I barely speak English. 😄

 

I have gotten around fine.  Enough people speak English to get around.  In that part of the world, a LOT of people speak some English, and many people speak English quite well.  

 

Their English does tend to be a bit of a mix of British and American.

 

Strangely, one of the most difficult places was Sicily.  Not that many people speak English, even in the larger cities.  But we managed to get by and have a great time.

[John Bull]

I've just looked at photos of this boat.

I wonder if "MS Mama Marija" is actually Largo's "Disco Volante" in the James Bond movie "Thunderball" 

 

We' recently sailed the Adriatic on a gulet - a smaller & more traditional boat, but much more relevant than a cruise ship.

 

A few things to check.......

 

Your boat (and yes, it's a boat not a ship) will probably sail only during daylight hours & be tied-up in port overnight.

So rather than being in port around 9am to 5pm like cruise ships, you'll probably be sailing in the mornings & berthing around lunchtime, which gives you the afternoon & evening in port. Most ports are small & easily explored in an afternoon, even Split which is a big city but with a compact historic area (adjacent the waterfront around the Diocletian's Palace). Dubrovnik is the only one where you wouldn't be able to do it justice in an afternoon & evening.

One negative about cruise ships is that you miss the evening life (and meals) ashore, and subject to checking your boat's timetabling that won't apply to you. 

 

Check the meal-plan, particularly if it includes dinner. 

If it doesn't, bear that in mind with the cruise price.

But it's so very much better to dine locally,. even in the smallest harbour there's enough choice of places serving local, & international dishes. Oh - and pizza. So many pizza outlets that you'd think it was a traditional Croatian dish .

Dining is inexpensive in the smaller harbours, but not Dubrovnik & mebbe Split or Trogir.

Prices on restaurant wine lists are high. But, certainly in the smaller harbours / establishments, the house wine is remarkably cheap - priced by the one-litre carafe but half-litre carafes available at half the price. Quality of house wines ranges from drinkable for the money to surprisingly decent.

 

Because of our experience of cruise ships we smuggled aboard a couple of bottles of wine  But we never touched them, because prices (beer & wine) on the boat  were the same as ashore. You might like to research that for your boat.

 

You'll get little or no entertainment on the boat, but you won't need it. Check whether it has wifi (probably) or TV (probably not). Wifi is important to most folk these days, but TV is no big deal in the circumstances.

 

We worried about passenger-mix on our 10-passenger gulet, but all turned out to be Brits & we bonded extremely well.

Shouldn't be a problem on a 30-passenger boat, and English is the world's second-language. 

But you might want to try to find out where the cruise is marketed. 

 

I can fairly confidently say that you will berth in walking distance of places,. But mebbe check if you'll be moored offshore & tendered in Dubrovnik.

 

I suspect that your cabin will be much smaller than on cruise ships. Ours was smaller than the bed - go figure 

 

You'll be sailing within sight of land, sometimes following the coast just a few hundred yards away. And enough other boats that you don't feel totally isolated.

 

Yes, Trogir is an island. All of 30ft from the mainland  and connected by a little bridge.

But your berth and the old town are on the island & you won't need to cross it unless mebbe you want to take a bus ride. somewhere.

 

Our experience on a gulet is more like your boat than the experiences of others on cruise ships.

But still very different.

I think your best information about the boat will come from other sources like TripAdvisor and independent review sites.

 

Folk on your boat will gaze enviously at the little gulets, which blend into the scenery so well.

We gazed enviously at boats like yours, wishing we had some of their home comforts. 

A "different"  experience , but one which I'd recommend.

 

JB 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Folk on your boat will gaze enviously at the little gulets, which blend into the scenery so well.

We gazed enviously at boats like yours, wishing we had some of their home comforts. 

A "different"  experience , but one which I'd recommend.

 

JB 

 

Hey JB, if you don't mind me asking...

 

I've looked at doing a gulet cruise for a while. How did you go about picking one?  Was it marketed mostly to Brits, and would you recommend them? 

 

Where did you go?

 

What creature comforts did you miss?  Did you have A/C?  Your own bathroom?

 

Were you always docked or did you have to get into shore using a smaller boat?

 

 

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Hey JB, if you don't mind me asking...

 

I've looked at doing a gulet cruise for a while. How did you go about picking one?  Was it marketed mostly to Brits, and would you recommend them? 

 

Where did you go?

 

What creature comforts did you miss?  Did you have A/C?  Your own bathroom?

 

Were you always docked or did you have to get into shore using a smaller boat?

 

 

 

Hi cruisemom,

 

As you know, we're cheapskates. 

We booked it cos a very good late deal, incl air & transfers, popped-up from "Late Escapes"

And because we love Croatia.

And because it included islands, which weren't worth the hassle on road trips.

And because it was "different".

............ but mainly cos it was silly-cheap 

£390 pp including £280 of flights

 

This was on Nostalgia  

https://www.bestgulet.com/en/croatia/114/nostalgia/

The deal was shared with Gideon (operator's decision who went on which)

https://www.goolets.net/yacht/gulet-gideon/

Those websites - and their prices - are for chartering the boat,  so ignore references to the add-ons like port fees.

I think they offer late cabin deals to share on weeks that they don't get charter bookings, so the itinerary for our cruise is no longer on the web, but I did copy it to my e-mail address - here it is

Day 1: Kastel Luksic - Borovica - Brac

Board the gulet in the town of Kastel Luksic and sail to the port of Borovica on the gorgeous island of Brac. The boat will moor for the night here and you'll enjoy dinner on board. (Meals: Dinner)

Day 2: Brac - Pucisa

Set sail to the town of Pucisca, also on Brac and often listed as one of the prettiest villages in Europe. Enjoy breakfast and lunch on board and stay overnight in Pucisca. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 3: Pucisa - Jelsa - Hvar

Sail over to Jelsa, right in the middle of the island of Hvar and sandwiched by its two highest mountains. Enjoy breakfast and lunch on board and stay overnight in Jelsa. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 4: Hvar - Sumartin

Cruise back over to Brac, this time to the south side, to the sailors' village of Sumartin - a hidden gem with charming restaurants and idyllic beaches. Stay overnight in Sumartin. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 5: Sumartin - Stari Grad

Sail back to the island of Hvar, this time exploring its picture-perfect Old Town (Stari Grad). You have the option to take an excursion (additional cost) to visit the island's pine forest vineyards and olive groves. Stay overnight in Hvar. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 6: Stari Grad - Trogir

Sail to the city of Trogir, on a small island between Split on the mainland and the island of Ciovo. Stroll its large waterfront promenade lined with eateries and perhaps have dinner and cocktails to round off your Croatian experience. Enjoy breakfast and lunch on board. Stay overnight in Trogir. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 7: Trogir - Solta - Split

Cruise over to the island of Solta, to spend the afternoon swimming off the gulet or on one of the beaches, before returning to Split to see and experience as much as possible on your last evening. Enjoy breakfast and lunch on board and stay overnight in Split. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

Day 8: Kastel Luksic - UK

Enjoy a final early morning sail back to Kastel Luksic, with breakfast on board. Transfer to the airport for your flight back to the UK. (Meals: Breakfast and lunch)

 

Didn't stick to that itinerary - very slap-dash ad-hoc itinerary & berthing arrangements, but for what we, and our boat-mates, wanted it didn't matter. I don't know whether this is typical of gulets, or typical for that boat, or typical for that time of year.

Last port of call was going to be Trogir but due to a big thunderstorm & rough waters (early October, the only poor weather day that we had) but instead sailed direct to the base at Keastel Luksic . Took the bus to Trogir from there.

Different gulets, different itineraries. And itineraries dependent on weather & other factors. But from Split area they all go to much the same places.

A case of go-with-the-flow.

 

Berthed in every harbour, very easy.

 

Despite the price I certainly wouldn't recommend Nostalgia - the cabin just a bit too small, too basic, too tatty. And a seriously uncomfortable bed. Own shower / toilet. No aircon (OK in October, but would be pretty desperate in that cabin in high summer.)

Gideon was better, didn't see the cabins but one of the guests told me they were very variable and chosen by drawing straws.

But there are stax of others.

 

I think that most (all?) gulets, like ours, are skippered by the owner, plus wife/cook plus deck-hand.

 

And I think most (all?) never raise their sails, they just rely on the motor. In fact most - including ours - didn't even carry sails.

So if it's a SAILING experience that you seek you will have to research hard.

 

 

Our big concern was that we might be sharing with a large group of Germans or Italians or Japanese or whoever. But it was all English couples - good crowd, went here with these and there with those, and a farewell restaurant dinner together on the last night.  Sorry, don't know how to be sure of that when booking.

 

The island harbours way more laid-back than the mainland, and prices on the islands significantly lower than the cities.

You know Trogir, so you can understand me lumping it in with the mainland.

 

Sorry, can't be much more help

 

JB 

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by John Bull

[cruisemom42]

Thanks JB; useful info. 

 

I am interested in a gulet along the Turkish coast, to get to some sites that are a bit 'off the beaten path' for either cruise ships or land travel. What I'm still a bit unsure about is whether the amount of time ashore would be sufficient for me in terms of what I want to see and do...

 

I have seen some pretty nice looking gulets in ads which is why I was questioning creature comforts. I know the cabins are tight but would expect reasonably nice beds, linens, food....

 

 

[John Bull]

20 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Thanks JB; useful info. 

 

I am interested in a gulet along the Turkish coast, to get to some sites that are a bit 'off the beaten path' for either cruise ships or land travel. What I'm still a bit unsure about is whether the amount of time ashore would be sufficient for me in terms of what I want to see and do...

 

I have seen some pretty nice looking gulets in ads which is why I was questioning creature comforts. I know the cabins are tight but would expect reasonably nice beds, linens, food....

 

 

 

That's gonna take some research, particularly whether the gulet will stick to its timetable & itinerary. 

 

It's a safe bet that they'll be berthed from lunchtime to breakfast time, but in most small harbours you'll probably find pedal bikes,  mopeds & ATVs to rent but not cars. And some gulets sometimes moor in secluded bays  remote from any facilities. So if the sites you want to visit are some distance from the boat........

 

Standards are extremely variable, I guess price is an indicator and the low-priced gulets are unlikely to meet decent standards.

But one day we were berthed next to a particularly luxurious one.

 

I've just browsed Turkish gulets on googleimages - only the flags differentiate them from Croatian ones. And just like Croatia most are under-way with sails furled or completely missing. But I doubt that is of importance to you.

 

My brother has sailed a Turkish gulet. I know that he thoroughly enjoyed it, but he's incommunicado at the moment

 

JB 

[CPT Trips]

On October 31, 2019 at 8:50 AM, WoodstockGirl said:

 

 

On these small ship cruises - like this itinerary you posted and the others mentioned on this thread - is English always the primary spoken language while onboard? 

 

When in port cities, as you walk around on your own, is English commonly spoken or is there a language barrier (since I speak only English).

 

 

 

 

 

The ship's crew all spoke English, except possible some of the seamen or kitchen utilities. Even those were learning as it was part of their ticket to better jobs. The company we went with only sells in the US, all activities and tours are in English.

 

We did fine without any Greek, Albanian, Croatian. 

 

On that trip, most of our cruising was done overnight. Typically departing port dinner time or later and arriving early enough for tours to start in the morning. Because we went in November, it was dark when we transited the Corinth Canal in the early evening.

 

We have cruised with this company three other times, Baltic, Western Med, and Western France/Iberia, all with similar cruise times.