For the price that you pay which is quite exorbitant I don’t think this experience lives up to the cost or the hype. While the crew and the staff on board as well as the guide are absolutely lovely and the service was great the boat is old, creaky and smelly.. The air-conditioning barely worked and people complained non-stop about the Aircon not working. There were no fans even on deck which are desperately needed to combat the unbearable European summer heat. Unfortunately it did not live up to the expectations and certainly not to the reviews I’ve seen on site. The boats need full renovations and need to be fully updated in order for them to be able to get a higher rating.
- Anonymous, 25/08/2024 14:46, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your review - we’re pleased to hear that you found our crew, staff, and service to be excellent. However, we regret to learn that the boat did not meet your expectations. We maintain a high rating of 4.7/5 stars for this departure, and our internal reports did not indicate any air-conditioning issues raised by yourself or any other guest. We encourage guests to raise any concerns with our Onboard Rep so we can address them swiftly. For transparency, we provide detailed imagery and information about each of our Explorer ships on our website to help guests make an informed decision about their accommodation. We appreciate your input and comments as we continue to enhance our services.
It really depends on the group & crew that makes the trip. The bartender on the boat wasn't the most pleasant and the chef was horrible. I knew going on the boat that the food was not going to be the best but it was horrible. Also, I didn't like how we didn't have to much free time and the swim spots were okay, nothing great either. Overall, the trip was okay.
- Jessica, 09/08/2024 14:15, Travelled Solo
Dear Jessica, thank you for sharing your review of your recent Navigator Cruise. We appreciate your feedback. Thank you for the feedback regarding the food, bartender, and chef. Rest assured, your feedback will be passed on to the team. We hope to welcome you again in the future!
Sail Croatia really let me down with my experience by not mixing the people on our boat. Out of 30 people there were 29 women (13 of which were one big group that were not very interested in socialising outside of their group) the one male was a partner of the only couple on the boat. I believe variety in people would have most definitely improved everyone's experience. While our tour manager was absolutely lovely and kind I was disappointed with their lack of knowledge of Croatia in general. Unfortunately their inexperience showed when they struggled to comand respect and order when addressing the group. This showed when organising activities or even getting people excited meet up to learn about our beautiful scenic stops. The crew onboard were so lovely and accommodating. The food was great. After stopping at a few ports and seeing the variety in types of Sail Croatia Boats I was also disappointed that when booking I was not given options to upgrade to a boat with better facilities.
- Caris, 03/08/2024 08:31, Travelled Solo
Dear Caris, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and for completing our feedback form. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your experience with the crew and the swim stops, and we truly appreciate the high scores you provided on the feedback form. While we always strive to provide the best possible experience for all our clients, we unfortunately cannot guarantee or control the bookings and other clients we receive, including the ratios. As per your enquiry and request, we booked the Ensuite ship category for you. Please note that we do offer higher-tier options, such as our Premier and Premier Plus ships, which were available at the time of your booking. Should you have wished to upgrade, we would have been more than happy to arrange this for you. Once again, thank you for your feedback, and we hope to welcome you on board again in the future. Kind regards,
I felt throughout the whole trip I was being asked to pay extra for random aspects such as bus transfers, water ferry’s. I feel like I don’t understand where my almost $2000 went. The crew and guide were amazing but all the hidden extra costs are not explained properly. I feel the initial price should be increased or have a lump sum you can do at the start with card instead of having to try get exact cash for everything. We had a ratio of 19 females to 3 males which is just ridiculous. I feel there should be allocated spots for males and females to have an appropriate dynamic. The people I was with were amazing and did save the trip and I really did enjoy myself but the random hassles all throughout the trip really did not make me want to rebook with sail Croatia again.
- Jessica, 19/06/2024 09:19, Travelled Solo
Hi Jessica, thank you for your feedback and for providing us with 5-star feedback. We're pleased to hear that you enjoyed the crew, guide, and fellow travelers. We aim to ensure a good mix of people on all our ships, however it does heavily rely on who has booked taking into consideration solo travellers, groups, friends, and couples. Our pre-departure information and website outline the inclusions and our Sales Team are available to answer any questions you may have around budgeting for your cruise. We appreciate your suggestions and will consider them as we strive to improve our services.
I felt like it was almost expected of us to drink every single night, which led to many of us feeling sick and terrible by the end of the week and not actually enjoying the beautiful places we stopped at. I wish there were more non-drinking activities so we could’ve gotten to know everyone better. Sometimes it felt like you couldn’t participate unless you were drinking. Our boat was also definitely one of the cheapest models. If I had a little more detail about what exactly each boat entailed I probably would’ve booked the next level up. That being said, the crew was fantastic and our guide was great.
- Julia, 13/09/2023 07:21, Travelled Solo
Hi Julia, thank you for your review! We are pleased to read you were happy with the crew on board and your Sail Croatia Representative, thank you for this. Our Navigator cruises are designed for 18-39 year old travellers looking to socialise, party and meet others, so often some of the guests on board will consume alcohol. This is of course entirely up to each individual. With regards to ship types, the difference between each category can be found on our website and on the Navigator cruise page. I can confirm the Standard ship category you booked is the lowest price and usually aimed at guests on a budget, and usually perfect for travellers backpacking across Europe! Thank you so much for joining us in Croatia this summer.
The food at lunch should be lighter and healthier.; not pasta and risotto. Sandwiches, salads, roasted vegetables, wraps, would be better. We don’t need dessert. Coffee needs to be out during the morning for longer that one hour. Keep coffee out until 11:00 AM. Happy Hour from 6-7. Drinks at bar poor quality. Quality of cabin was not great. I wasn’t expecting much, but the handle was off my drawer in the bathroom & bed and pillow VERY uncomfortable. I DID enjoy my trip as there was more to enjoy than these things and had a great time. Thank you.
- Sarah, 11/09/2023 03:17, Travelled Solo
Hi Sarah, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We are really pleased to hear you enjoyed your time on the cruise and Croatia as a whole. We are disheartened to hear of the issues raised. All cruises include 3-course lunches which is usually a starter, main and dessert - I'm sorry to hear you were unhappy with the lunches served, our chefs aim to provide a variety of meals using fresh, local produce. Upon viewing the feedback you provided, we are happy to know you enjoyed the Captain's Dinner and other aspects of your cruise. We are disappointed to read about the drawer handle and pillow - we have a rigorous process in place for any issues that arise onboard, which is outlined in your pre-departure information and following this process ensures that no incident is left unreported. Had we been made aware, we would have resolved this immediately for you. We understand that coffee is important to some, so we provide filtered coffee which is available during breakfast hours and complimentary instant coffee is also available during the day. You also have the option of capsual coffee payable via your bar tab. We appreciate your comments and are thrilled to know that the issues raised didn't deter from your overall enjoyment onboard.
“Tuna” itself was really good, the aircon worked and the chef was fantastic. It was quite spacious for an ensuite boat. A few notes on this trip- the Tour guide was very unenthusiastic from check in on day 1. This was in regards to everything from excursions, to pub crawls. The pub crawls were very unorganised and communication overall could have been better. Restaurants for dinner were very average. Although Excursions were fun, they were well overpriced. The breakfast advertised was a buffet with an assortment of sausages/meat, eggs, pastries, cereal, fruit etc. The breakfast provided was continental style with one type of egg, toast, cereal and fruit, which was a bit of a let down.
- Sarah, 16/08/2023 00:37, Travelled Solo
Hello Sarah, thank you for your review and feedback of your cruise with us this summer. I'm very pleased to see you enjoyed the quality of your ship Tuna and the fantastic chef on board, thank you for these comments! I'm surprised to see your 2* review as feedback submitted at the end of your cruise was very positive, overall. We're disappointed to hear that the tour guide's enthusiasm and other aspects of the cruise did not meet your expectations, Sarah. We do appreciate your feedback and this will be passed onto our Operations Manager in Split. We do hope to welcome you back on board with us in the future. Thank you!
First I want to say the crew was amazing, very helpful and friendly. Also the food was epic. Unfortunately on my ship our rep left after 1 day and we were stranded, the new rep came on and bless her soul she was lovely but not suited to a party boat. The boat I was on as well had one big group of friends who didn't really want to mingle that much with everyone else or actually party much which was annoying. My roommate was also very sick and she got me sick, so I'm angry about that because it's ruined my trip. All the food places we went to were hella expensive and meh, also the clubs were over hyped and too expensive. The drinks on the boat were annoyingly over priced and so we just didn't want to pay those prices to drink a lot. I was recommended this by a friend but unfortunately I will be telling people not to waste their money especially if traveling solo. It was the worst part of my trip so far.
- Kirstie, 05/08/2023 11:40, Travelled Solo
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We are pleased to hear that you found our crew amazing and enjoyed the meals onboard. We are however sorry to hear you were unwell during your cruise which had an affect on your overall experience. We aim to get a good mix of travellers onboard our ships, and whilst our Reps work tirelessly to ensure group dynamics are balanced, this is not always possible as it ultimately depends on the individuals onboard. We understand budgeting is important for guests, so we have a few readily available blogs on our website which details approximate drink prices onboard our ships, and also the type of prices to expect at local restaurants which are updated regularly. We appreciate your feedback as it is valuable to us, and we hope to have you onboard again in the near future.
Our tour guide was not involved in the group at all. He did nothing to combine the different groups and so as a solo traveling it was unenjoyable. I feel as though he did the bare minimum, but didn’t even give adequate information. For example, when we went on the buggies there was a 30 mins break where we could have gone swimming but he didn’t mention this to us. So, the whole group missed out and were extremely hot. He never went out of his way to communicate much at all
- Sarah , 24/07/2023 03:29, Travelled Solo
Hi Sarah, thank you for taking the time to write your review. We are pleased to inform you that our internal reporting shows that the majority of guests on your ship provided great feedback for the cruise and the service provided by our onboard Rep. However, we are disappointed to learn that your experience did not align with the rest of the group's positive feedback and this will be passed on. Thank you again for your feedback and we hope to welcome you back at another opportunity.
The advertising for Sail Croatia isn't clear because the Navigator cruise is marketed for ages 18-39 but this blog post from the official website says the cruise is perfect for people under 30: https://www.sail-croatia.com/set-sail/which-ship-type-is-right-for-me-a-navigator-guide Also got food poisoning from the boat so I had to miss an activity I wanted to go to although some activities were overpriced for what they were. For example, the buggying in Korcula cost 60 euros but involved a half an hour break where you just sat around doing nothing. The ziplining involved driving back the way you had just come by boat for 40-60 minutes and then having to wait to be driven all the way back afterwards so it takes up a lot of unnecessary time. Also the bike riding in Mljet is just a bike hire, literally no helmet or anything else so this was expensive for what it was too. On the first day the check in ended up being later (after 12 pm) and we missed the first day swim stop. Refund me.
- Anonymous, 10/07/2023 06:33, Travelled Solo
Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding your Sail Croatia experience. Regarding the age range on board we appreciate you bringing it to our attention. We have the correct age noted on our Navigator pages and will update the link provided. The activities offered are a highlight for many guests and we understand the frustration when activities do not meet expectations. Your feedback regarding the pricing has been noted, and we will pass it on to the appropriate department. In regards to food poisoning, upon checking our internal records I can see on the 3rd July you had notified the onboard representative that you were unwell the night before. The onboard representative assisted immediately and no further issues were reported hereafter. There were also no incidences relating to food poisoning onboard. Regarding the check-in time, we aim for a check-in from 10:30am. Any delays in the process will be communicated to our guests. Thank you for sharing your concerns, and we value your input. If you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please feel free to reach out to us.
As a solo traveller, this experience was very disappointing and I regret my decision to travel with Sail Croatia. There were so few solo travelers and zero effort from anyone to integrate us into the group, so I spent a very lonely week on board.
- Sarah, 28/06/2023 07:14, Travelled Solo
Hi Sarah and thank you for your review. I have checked the details, and your boat had a well-balanced mix of travellers onboard, including 8 solo travellers. We are pleased to inform you that our internal reporting shows that the majority of guests on your ship provided five-star feedback for the cruise and the service provided by our onboard Rep. I have checked your feedback also, and we are pleased to know that you rated us 4-5 stars in other areas and would still recommend us, thank you. We do hope to have you join us again in the future.
The food on our boat was horrible. There was very little provided for breakfast (usually just bread with butter) and the included lunch was always extremely disappointing (usually soup with bread and some kind of boiled meat). We were all very hungry and there were no snacks provided during the day- we couldn’t bring our own snacks on board and we didn’t dock until the afternoon so there was no option to get off the boat to buy food. The rest of the tour was amazing and I would definitely do it again.
- Anonymous, 06/06/2023 07:46, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your 3 star review and for taking the time to provide feedback on your cruise with us this season. Your comments have now been passed onto the relevant teams and changes are already set in place so that improvements can be made. We thank you for bringing this to our attention and love to read you would join us again - we would love to have you! Thank you for a great week exploring Croatia with us.
I m vegetarian and I had a constant monotonous and unhealthy diet of eggs and cheese at each meal of the day. No vegetables, all cheap and badly cooked. To be fair. The ship crew were fine. The guides adequate. The hikes were not interesting bar one trip to a national part. Just uphill to a viewpoint. Every viewpoint and trail looked the same. The other guests were a good and lively bunch. Many felt the same but there was group pressure to say how great everything was.
- Eve, 05/09/2022 06:00, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your review here Eve. I'm happy to hear you found the ship crew and guides to be of good value. We are very sorry to hear of your disappointment with the meals served - upon checking the average ratings for your week onboard, the chef was rated 4 stars. Upon request, the chef would be more than happy to offer more of the foods you can eat as they are used to all kinds of dietary requirements. We value each piece of feedback provided and we encourage our guests to share their experience in their own words with no pressure, so we are disappointed to read this. It's reassuring to know that all guests would recommend our cruise and rated us overall 4-5 stars. We thank you for providing your review, as it is only with such comments we can look to improve our services wherever possible. Thank you
The boat was great and loved Croatia, however the problem was with the organisation and poor communication from staff. There were two trainee guides on board as well and they all clashed with each other. We were promised parties in the middle of the sea with a barbecue when in reality we had an early curfew and this didn’t go ahead at all. Early June was off season for most of the clubs so itinerary was not accurate at all. Swim stops were not communicated so I missed some of them. Croatian staff on board (bartender, captain, cook) were great though.
- Issy, 01/09/2022 07:03, Travelled Solo
Hi Issy, Thank you for your 5-star review. We are really pleased to hear you enjoyed your time on the boat and had a fabulous time in Croatia. However, we are sorry to hear you were disappointed with some aspects of your cruise. We pride ourselves on having the most knowledgable, friendly and local Representatives. Before the season commences, our Reps go through rigorous training and shadow work, so they are confident prior to their first departure solo. I have checked, and can see that the feedback for the Reps was 4-5 stars. On all our ships we have a midnight curfew which is to ensure those that wish to party on, can do so in the towns - visiting the best local bars and clubs, and those that wish to stay onboard and get an early night, can do so in peace. In early June, most bars and clubs are open to public however, we understand that Covid has caused a slight delay in opening times. Swim stops commence each day and the onboard rep will advise everyone of the daily schedule - I'm sorry to hear you missed some of them. Thank you for your comments on the onboard staff - we will pass this on :-). I'm pleased that overall you enjoyed your time on the boat and in Croatia as a whole.
The website is extremely hard to navigate. On day 1 of our cruise we were told to get off the boat after the meeting time because it wasn’t ready yet. This kind of disorganisation could have been avoided if you had a later meeting time. The price of excursions and drinks was pretty expensive and the fact that there wasn’t organised shuttles for a lot of stops was quite poor. There was a lot of hidden extras that added up. I definitely should have researched my ship more as it was way too party for me. I liked that breakfast and lunch was included everyday, however we didn’t get a lot of free time at most stops. Whilst I’m glad I did it I wouldn’t be doing another sail again. I think navigator is best suited to under 25 party goers. Also you shouldn’t ask people to review on the last day in front of their tour manager. It’s very awkward and not anonymous.
- Kieran, 22/08/2022 05:50, Travelled Solo
Hi Kieran, thank you for your review. We are continuously improving our customer experience by ensuring our website is easy to navigate. Check-in time onboard is from 10:30am - 12pm, however please note that your boat may not be ready by this time as mentioned in your pre-departure documentation. The boat left promptly at 1pm as scheduled. We do advise that dinners, drinks and excursions are at an additional cost so that you can budget for this, we have prices for drinks and excursions available. We're happy to know you enjoyed the inclusions of breakfasts and lunches. However, are sorry to hear this was too party orientated. Our Navigator cruises are aimed at under 39 year old travellers looking for a more party type cruise. Perhaps the Explorer cruise may be a better option as this has a good balance of socialising, relaxing and exploring. We encourage reviews and feedback to be provided privately, in your own words - we will be investigating further, thank you for making us aware. Thank you again for all your comments Kieran as this is the only way we can look to improve our services where possible. Thank you.
Great experience and people involved! Loved everything that was provided however paid extra to have an ensuite and be on top deck however the heat in my room was unbearable. It was right next to the engine room, the aircon faced away from the bed and didn’t provide any cooling effect. The bathroom was tiny and hot with the shower head facing the toilet. I didn’t sleep in the room at all and slept on the floor down below deck as the air con was much better down there. I would like to be compensated for the extra money I paid for an ensuite as the room was not liveable.
- Kate, 12/07/2022 19:20, Travelled Solo
Hi Kate - thank you for your review, we appreciate it. We are really happy to hear you had a great experienced and enjoyed the company of your fellow travellers. We have 4 ship types available; Standard, Ensuite, Premier and Premier Plus on our Navigator cruises. I can see that you booked an Ensuite ship which includes ensuite and a fan in your cabin. Air-conditioning is not included on our Ensuite ship, however we are pleased to hear your Captain turned this on in the communal areas downstairs free of charge. Having a look at the ratings for this room for previous departures, the feedback given was 5 stars for the previous two departures. I have confirmation from our Onboard Representative that the fan was in working order in your cabin. I would highly recommend our Premier or Premier Plus ship in future as this includes air-conditioning and more cabin space for added comfort. Thank you again for your feedback.
Explorer/Excursions: was disappointed by the lack of excursions and exploring on the explorer cruise. On board we did a lot of relaxing and cruising so I anticipated action packed land adventures. This trip fell flat. The 1 to 2 excursion I did I really enjoyed. Hora wine tasting (great local place with the sweetest donkeys) and biking in Mljet Meals: I am a pescatarian (no meat, only seafood). I was served seabream-4-5 lunches in a row. I mentioned to the guide I'd like more variety, the next lunch I again received seabream. After that I mentioned to the head crew member I'd like to eat something other than seabream. Then I finally I had a change to tuna. The next meal seabass. The guide also had dietary restrictions and made a huge fuss in front of our entire table when given something she didn't eat. My final meal aboard was back to seabream with a side of peppers; meanwhile the guide had a overwhelming portion of gnocchi and peppers.
- Melissa, 04/10/2021 17:02, Travelled Solo
Hi Melissa, Thank you for your review. It's great to hear you enjoyed the Korcula Village Dinner, Wine Tasting and cycling around Mljet National Park. We agree, these are fantastic excursions and we love the Hora wine (and donkey's) also. It's nice to see from your feedback provided, you enjoyed your breakfasts onboard, rating this 4 stars, although not our usual 5 star service, we are glad you enjoyed the meals served each morning and we appreciate the fact that you would recommend us to others, thank you. Our onboard chef's aim to prepare delicious meals, using fresh, local produce, catering to all tastes, however at times, we understand that this is not always possible. Sea bream is a highly valued species of Adriatic white fish which would have been skill-fully prepared for you, especially as you had advised us of your dietary requirements. In saying this, we are sorry to hear that this became quite repetitive throughout the week. We have mentioned this to the onboard chef so that they are aware. We hope that this aspect didn't deter from your overall experience and we thank you for joining us this summer!
I came on Sail Croatia alone which was fine since I met tons of nice new friends on the cruise. My issue was with our guide. He was very unenthusiastic the whole time, made sexist comments, and generally made me feel uncomfortable as a solo passenger by making rude comments. I have good things to say about the boat, the captain, and his crew as the boat was always in good condition, and we safely got everywhere we were going, however the bartender was another story. Although he freepoured the drinks, he was unpredictible in his attitude, sometimes being happy and friendly, and sometimes getting angry with passengers for ordering certain drinks or ordering lots of drinks. This made me feel uncomfortable going to the bar to order drinks. Finally, since the whole crew was male and our guide was male, I felt disadvantaged on the boat as a solo woman, since they were all more friendly with the male passengers. Overall, a more friendly, enthusiastic guide would have improved my experience.
- Anonymous, 07/10/2019 14:03, Travelled Solo
Hi there and thank you for your review. We are pleased to hear you enjoyed the company of your fellow travellers and found the captain and crew helpful, and boat to be in good condition, thank you. I can see that we had 20 females and 16 males onboard your cruise, with 5 solo travellers. We are family owned and each of the ships we work with are also family-owned and operated. Together we make up Sail Croatia. Although our Reps are employed and trained by Sail Croatia, our ships and their captains are in charge of employing their own crew, ensuring their staff maintain a high level of service throughout the cruise. We are disappointed to read your comments regarding the guide and bartender. We have passed these comments on to the appropriate departments to provide further support and training where required. We are sorry to hear you felt uncomfortable, we encourage guests to notify our Operations Manager for any issues that may arise onboard so that we can resolve them immediately. We hope that overall, you enjoyed most aspects of your cruise and Croatia as a whole. Thank you.
Was not happy with my sail. I was the oldest on my boat I was solo also which is fine. But the oldest boy was 21. Majority were 18-20 year olds. I made friends on another boat Vosica. I wish I was on that boat. Was a bigger boat with people my age doing the same route. Was very dissapointed a shame you couldn’t have put other solo travellers of similar age on the same boat.
- Isabella , 13/08/2019 13:09, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your review. We try to get a good mix on all our boats, taking into consideration a number of factors such as; age, nationality, gender as well as solo travellers, groups and couples to name a few. Having a look at who booked on your boat, we had 6 travellers of similar ages to you. In saying this our travellers are within the 18-35 years age range, the makeup of each boat heavily relys on who has booked. We hope that this didn't detract from your overall experience in Croatia as a whole.
This tour is definitely suited to people who just want to party. I didn't know a lot about Sail Croatia before I went on this tour so I was surprised that it was just all Aussie's and Kiwi's. The food was pretty terrible. We had to skip 2 islands because of the weather. I didn't like how we had multiple tour managers, it would have been nice to have one for the entire trip. But apart from that I met a lot of cool people and got to see the spectacular islands.
- Carla, 15/08/2016 19:39, Travelled Solo
Hi there, thank you for your review. It is great to hear you met a lot of cool people and enjoyed the islands. Our Navigator cruises are designed for 18-35 year olds looking to socialise with more of a party-type atmosphere. We try our best to ensure our website is clear to guests about the experience of each cruise, and we are happy to assist if anyone is unsure of which cruise to choose. We also have an online cruise assessment which you can use to find out which cruise is best suited to you. Our cruises are very popular with New Zealanders and Australians as well as various different countries, and where possible we do try to ensure an even mix of travellers onboard our boats taking into consideration ages, nationalities and genders, however this heavily depends no who has booked. Your comments about food will be looked into so we can improve this for the future. With regards to you having multiple Sail Croatia Representatives, this is something that we are currently assessing.
Had a great time, however, the ratio of girls to guys was way too unbalanced on our boat, we were 28 girls and 5 guys, where 14 of those girls came as a group and kept to themselves most of the time. This limited group socialising. And then hearing about other boats who were having so much more fun as their group socialised more. Was a great cruise, make some cool friends nonetheless.
- Mary, 01/08/2016 21:12, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your feedback on our Navigator Dubrovnik to Split cruise. It's great to hear you had a good time on this cruise and made some new friends. We always aim to get a good balance on-board all our boats taking into consideration age, gender, nationality, group makeup - friends, solo travellers and couples. However, at times this is not possible as it heavily depends on who has booked what boat. We would like all our guests to socialise with other groups on-board, but it is down to the individual. In saying this, we had several boats on this route which hopefully provided you with a more sociable atmosphere in being able to mingle with travellers from other boats. Thanks again for your feedback.
null
- Katharine, 30/06/2016 09:07, Travelled Solo