When Mr. Family Trip and I were coming up on a wedding anniversary milestone, we knew we wanted to do something special to commemorate. (We aren’t real “stuff” people and don’t do much gifting.) It seemed like in the blink of an eye I was on a Sail Croatia cruise boat, coasting alongside the Dalmatian shoreline and exploring new towns.
Perfect.
If you’re thinking about a Sail Croatia tour, I am more than happy to pop in here and give you a review with my thoughts.
A Review of Sail Croatia (the Explorer Cruise) - with everything you need to know -
Sidenote: this is a completely honest, non-sponsored review of Sail Croatia and our experience. We paid full fare for ourselves and Sail Croatia had no idea we would be writing about it.
Mr. Family Trip and I were on the Mali Ante boat, an Explorer cruise. We booked way in advance and spent a lot of time considering the boats and timelines available to us.
For our itinerary, we chose to go from Split to Dubrovnik. We flew roundtrip to Dubrovnik for savings. After arriving in Dubrovnik, we slept in Cavtat for one night, then drove to Split, where we had most of a day and half, plus one night, in Split before we found our boat in the morning. (Note that given boat departure schedules, if you want to see the town you are leaving from, you will want to book yourself some time on the front end and arrive early.)
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The Differences Between the Cruise Styles
Picking the right cruise style is very important.
The Sail Croatia boats have the same stops and itineraries (for the most part – the party boats were banned from some of the ports) so we had the opportunity to see the boats and mingle with other Sail Croatia travelers. They are very different vibes from one another.
When we booked the options were:
- Navigator
- Explorer
- Elegance
- Bike
The website lists some descriptions and general age brackets for the cruises, and please read between the lines!
The Navigator is for ages 18-39 and when they say “party boat” they are not kidding. Apparently this is very popular with young Australians. These boats are banned from some ports due to loud music and late-night noise. At every port, the goal is to find a club or a bar to visit (for example, they were at the cave club in Makarska until the wee hours). If this is what you want, you will love it. All of the people on it seemed to be having the best time.
Explorer, which is what we went on, was mid-range. We had the same itinerary as the Elegance cruises, but the boats, dining, and service for the Elegance cruises were more luxury-minded. Explorer cruise marketing copy emphasizes that these tend to be more social than the Elegance cruises. I wasn’t on an Elegance cruise, but I can say our Explorer cruise and the others we saw were definitely boats where people chatted, bonded, and socialized quite a bit.
The bike cruises are what they sound like: cruising from port to port, then biking once on land. The bikes are carried on the boat, and cruise staff helps everyone get ready for the ride. However, the cost of the bike rental was additional (eBikes available).
We independently biked in Hvar, and many of our cruise mates biked in Mljet. Croatia is a wonderful place to bike, and you do not need to be on a bike cruise to enjoy this activity. But if you love it and want to bike more, particularly with guides and trail support, this looked like a fun option.
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About the Boats
All of the boats are medium-sized vessels and, interestingly, are privately owned and leased to Sail Croatia. Be sure to watch the videos online and look at the layout and amenities of whichever ship you are considering: they are all different!
Note that none of the boats actually “sail.” You can book at a boat with masts and cloth sails, but you’ll be under motor.
Consider what it is important to you. For full disclosure, I worked very hard to get us on a boat with a jacuzzi on the top deck (which would have been lovely in the early summer evenings!), but the water wasn’t actually heated. It was just a plunge pool. That was disappointing and, in retrospect, I would likely have picked a different boat if I knew that.
But our boat was very clean, and the people on board with us made up for any amenity issues. The Mali Ante felt like the boat we were meant to be on, when all was said and done.
Some commonalities, though:
- Consider upgrading to be above deck with a window. This option does cost more money, however, and they sell out much faster.
- Your bedroom will be small, but completely functional and efficient.
- Bring beach towels! You get one set of fresh shower towels per person provided by the boat, which are only changed out once during your week on board, and things don’t dry quickly in the humid air. You will want to bring quick-dry beach towels with you.
- We had plenty of hot water for showers.
- We were given free WiFi access.
- Seasickness wasn’t much of an issue for anyone on the boat until we had one day of huge swells and high winds. For the most part, given the size of the boat and the fact that we anchored during the day to swim and be outside, the pitching and the rolling didn’t seem to create too many instances of motion sickness.
The majority of the boats and rooms have air conditioning, but it is worth checking and knowing before you book.
About the Boat Food and Beverage
The chef we had on our boat was one of my favorite people. He was jolly (and that’s not a word I use often to describe people).
While breakfast was fairly similar every day, it was always filling, fresh, and delicious. Lunch was always different, and we tried some new things. We only had one dinner on board, and that was the captain’s dinner.
Beverages, including alcoholic beverages, were available for purchase on board, and given the captive-audience-market-capitalism I see elsewhere when traveling, I was surprised by how totally affordable the drinks were! Granted, mixed drinks and pours were done by one of the crew, so this isn’t the place to expect a mind-blowing high-end creative cocktail. But I have absolutely zero complaints about my Aperol spritzes. The bar on the boat did close down late at night (the crew needs to sleep).
Sail Croatia asks that no outside food or beverage be brought onto the boat. This meant that the few times I wanted a snack, I felt a little grumpy.
Potable water was available 24/7 in the lounge.
The crew was incredibly accommodating with any allergies or dietary restrictions, as long as they knew in advance.
You will want to bring cash to settle your bar tab at the end of the week and to tip the crew. Also, some excursions booked by your cruise director will require an advance cash payment.
About the Itinerary
The daily schedule and pace were the exact opposite of the major cruise ship I had recently experienced. Instead of the boat moving at night, being at the destination upon waking up, and having to return to the boat by late afternoon/early evening, Sail Croatia cruises make the boating part of the fun.
We were woken every morning any time between 6 am and 8 am by outside noise as the crew prepared the boat for departure and we left. We would sail for some time, enjoying breakfast at a set time and talking through the activities with our cruise director (cruise-organized land excursions were always additional payment, and sign-ups for them required the day before we entered port of call).
Sometime in late morning/early afternoon, the ship captain would find a lovely place to anchor, and we’d have time for a swim break.
Lunch was on board, and then we were in port in time to get off and have some time for adventures, dinner, nightlife, and returning to the boat any time we wanted (as long as it was before the boat left again in the morning).
Cons of a Sail Croatia Cruise
I found this cadence to the day challenging. (But I also found the main cruise line opposite schedule frustrating, so maybe I just don’t like not having full control of my time?)
I am a morning person, and I am ready to GO in the mornings. I prefer to do all my funtivities and then relax at night with a cocktail or glass of wine, reflect, and go to bed around 10 pm. This was not that schedule. I found it personally challenging to get into port late in the afternoon and not have a whole lot of time to do funtivities before bikes need to be returned and ticket booths closed.
You are on a boat with 30-40 people that start off as strangers. So there is socializing and small talk. Not everyone loves that (although we didn’t mind it at all).
Pros of a Sail Croatia Cruise
There is so much to love.
You get to see islands and places in Croatia that are otherwise hard to get to or perhaps not even accessible any other way.
The staff we had throughout the entire process and experience were simply lovely. I cannot say enough how much the Sail Croatia crew and team added to the overall joy we experienced.
Having a cruise director to ask one million questions of and give local recommendations was great.
We loved meeting people from all over the world and spending time getting to know them. (Note that I think Sail Croatia tours are particularly lovely for solo travelers, of which we had a few on the Mali Ante.)
Nothing about this itinerary or the cruise felt rushed in any way. This was a relaxing holiday for us, not simply a travel experience. Lounging in the sun mid-afternoon, rolling off the boat into a new town with full bellies from a three-course lunch after a good night’s sleep and waking up to fresh hot coffee… this was the ultimate blend of travel and leisure. Blissful.
The itinerary was easy, well done, and made sense. And, as always with group vacations with a company, we didn’t have to do much work or planning at all!
Everything considered, we absolutely loved this experience. It wasn’t cheap (it is a privilege to be able to do something like this) but it also felt worth the money (especially when cost comparing it to Greek island cruises).
We had such beautiful memories and got to see and experience so much. Not to mention the phenomenal fellow travelers we met along the way.
I would certainly recommend this to anyone. Get your partner, best friends, family members. Send them this post. Then pick a boat, and GO. Go sail Croatia.
To book your Sail Croatia cruise and learn more, head to www.sail-croatia.com.
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