Mini-Review of Croatia Cruise on SD II

[stan01]

Summary:

The best cruise we have ever taken. The combination of historic ports, natural beauty, great warm weather, and the exceptional crew on SD II made this a cruise to remember. The bartenders and waiters were outstanding, often giving us our favorite drinks before we ordered and taking care of the little details that often get overlooked. Dinner was served outdoors at the Topside Restaurant on 4 of the 7 nights, the jet skis were out 4 afternoons, and we made two special stops for swimming. The Croatian coast is no longer an undiscovered jewel like it may have been 40 years ago, but it still has its charm and amazing potential.

 

Dubrovnik:

We stayed at the Imperial Hilton for two nights before the cruise. Its location about 100 yards from the Pile Gate to the walled city can't be beat. Rooms and service are exactly what you would expect from a European Hilton. There are several small hotels inside the walled city, but the logistics of moving luggage can get more complicated since the taxi will drop you off at one of the two gates. Seafood and pasta dominate the menus, but prices are reasonable at most restaurants.

 

Embarkation:

Very smooth. Porters were available to wheel luggage to the ship for us. After being welcomed aboard by Captain Tysse we were immediately seated in the lounge and given champagne. We were escorted to the reception area about 10 minutes later when it was our turn to check in.

 

Dubrovnik:

At about 5 PM on embarkation day (Saturday), Seadream II left the port and repositioned to the other side of Dubrovnik closer to the small harbor in the walled city. We spent the night and the next day at anchor alongside several large yachts (including the Christiana O. -- Aristotle Onassis' former yacht). For those of you who are new to SeaDream, being at anchor is often preferable to docking because the jet skis, kayaks, and swimming are available. We chose to stay on the SD II and take advantage of the jet skis, swimming, and Chief Bartender Zoltan's fruit smoothies.

 

Kotor

Montenegro is a beautiful country dominated by rocky, steep mountains in a Mediterranean climate. Kotor is accessed by traversing the southernmost fjord in Europe (technically I understand it is a submerged river valley, but everyone calls it a fjord). As we entered the fjord there are two small islands -- one with a monastary and one with a convent. As we passed the convent, SD II blew her horn in greeting. The nuns then rang their church bells. Wonderful. We docked at Kotor about 7 PM on Sunday so we were able to take a walk through the historic walled city after dinner. On Monday we hiked up approx. 1300 steps to the medieval fortress for a great view down onto the city and out into the fjord then returned to SD II to enjoy the ship and service. For those of you new to SeaDream, you will find that this is common behavior. Some passengers never leave the ship, and many go ashore for a few hours before lunch then stay on the ship the rest of the day.

 

Korcula

Another day, another medieval walled city! SD II anchored off shore and the jet skis were available. Korcula is much less crowded than Dubrovnik, and its smaller scale and narrow alleys make for some beautiful photographs. Later that afternoon enroute to our next stop in Hvar Captain Tysse brought SD II to a stop in the channel for an hour for swimming off the marina platform. There was a nice warm current. Only on SeaDream.

 

Hvar

Even with the unplanned swimming stop, we arrived at Hvar before dinner. After dinner we went ashore. It turns out Hvar is quite the party resort destination for the young and beautiful so we enjoyed people watching. The contrast between the lively nightlife and quiet town the next morning was interesting. We hiked to the fort looking over the harbor, and then walked a path around the shoreline. The harbor where SeaDream was anchored was too busy to safely operate the marina. We left Hvar about 3 PM and Captain Tysse made our second unplanned stop for swimming -- this time anchored off a small island. No warm current this time, but still refreshing.

 

Trogir

Trogir is another walled town, but this time on a small island. We took our only SeaDream excursion of the trip into Split to visit Diocletian's Palace dating back to 300 AD. Back on SD II, more swimming and jet skis for those who wanted to partake.

 

Rovinj

Rovinj is not walled, but is dominated by a large church bell tower on a hill. We climbed up about 200 wooden steps to the top of the tower along with several hundred Italian tourists. Each of the towns we visited had its own personalities, and you could definitely see the Venetian influence in Rovinj with colorful buildings. This was our final day of jet skis and swimming.

 

Venice

Disembarkation consisted of saying goodbye to Captain Tysse, walking down the gangway, a two minute bus ride, and identifying our luggage. We were on our way in under 5 minutes. We spent 3 nights after the cruise at the family-operated Locanda Orseolo, which I highly recommend for its location on a quiet alley near St. Mark's Square and the service provided by the owners.

[flag fan]

Thanks for the review. I'm debating between a Caribbean cruise and this itinerary. Your descriptions of all the ports is very helpful. I am disappointed that there won't be docking--I consider that a real advantage of smaller ships; I don't plan to use the ship's marina so there's really no advantage for me. Oh well, I assume it is the same in the Caribbean.

[stan01]

Most of my favorite Caribbean islands are also tender-only ports (St. Barts, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, St. John). On St. Martin, I much prefer tendering on the French side of the island to docking next to 4 megaships with 10000 passengers on the Dutch side.

 

We felt the same way about tendering on other ships, which can be a hassle due to lines and waiting. However, we have found that this just isn't the case on SeaDream. SeaDream uses a fast, two-engine tender boat that operates continuously back and forth, and the ship is usually anchored close to the shore. The tender can accommodate almost 1/3 of the passengers in a single trip, so you will never have to wait for the next one.

[alexandra cruiser]

I appreciate the time it took to give this great review.Now I m looking forward to my first cruise with SeaDream even more.Alexandra Cruiser;)

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for a great review stan01!

 

Sounds like a lovely itinerary:)

[alexandra cruiser]

Just re read your review, have a question re Venice.We re not staying in Venice after cruise.Did you have time to see it, says ships gets in at 7 pm then we have an early morning flight at 10am. I ve been there several times but do want to see a few places again.Can you walk to main square from ship? Is it close to taxi stand to get to airport?

[stan01]

Sorry, just saw this.

 

We docked at the San Basilio pier along with both a Seabourn and Silver Sea ship. It was a crowded day. Taxi cars can get to the San Basilio terminal, but we didn't see many in use. I'd reserve in advance if you want to take a land taxi.

 

Most people disembarking were taking water taxis. At 9:00 AM there were about 10 groups in line to board water taxis, but there were almost as many empty water taxis in line waiting to pick up passengers. The bottleneck was loading people and their luggage onto the water taxis at the pier -- not the availability of water taxis. It was obvious to us that the water taxi operators know exactly where to be when the luxury ships are in port!

 

We had light suitcases and chose to get some post-cruise exercise by walking from the San Basilio terminal to our hotel near St. Marks via Dorsoduro and the Academia Bridge. It took us about 45 minutes. Since we arrived at San Basilio at 8:00 AM I don't know what transport options would be available when the ship docks the night before. Hope this helps.

[alexandra cruiser]

That s just the info I needed .Tried to get name of pier on Venice info site, but it was for the big ships.I printed out your review and now share it with my friends and family, they are all envious of my next cruise.Thanks.:D