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.
Better cleaning, more friendly, variety with the food, in rainy days have some entertaining even border games or something, the cruise itself is not cheap and of top of that we have to pay more more, a lot of my travellers wee really dissatisfied!!! Never ever will Travel again with you guys I will not recommended neither to my friends!!!!
- Marta, 22/05/2023 14:29, Travelled in a Couple
Dear Marta, thank you for taking the time to review your cruise with us this season. I am very sorry to hear you felt this way about your experience. Unfortunately we are unable to guarantee the weather, so it is a shame that you did not have the best weather during your time with us. Overall for your departure I can see most guests that joined the cruise have said in feedback that they would recommend us, so I am sorry to hear this is not the case for you. Thank you for joining us Marta and for taking the time to review your experience.
The best part of the trip was the company of others who attended the same week, but everything else about the trip that was handled by Sail Croatia was pitiful. Horrible food, poor planning, disgusting cabins, and more than evident cost-cutting. The wifi was nonexistent and no soap, shampoo, or conditioner was provided. The bath towels provided were dirty and disgusting. I signed for a triple occupancy cabin and it ended up being a mattress on the floor. That is unacceptable. The other participants bonded on the boat over Sail Croatia's failings as a cruise liner. If I knew the lack of amenities provided and the poor organizing, I would not attend.
- Kalee, 01/10/2022 18:52, Travelled with Family
Thank you for your review Kalee. We are sorry to hear you were unhappy with your cabin arrangements and boat in general. I have gone through all the feedback ratings and we were given 4 stars for the 'boat overall'. Our chefs prepare all meals in their small gulleys located onboard the boat, aiming to provide a variety of meals however we understand that this is not always to everyone's taste. Soap, shampoo and conditioning is not included and we advise guests to bring their own onboard to avoid disappointment. Triple cabin consists of a small double bed and single bunk, as advised prior to booking this room type. As they are the same size as a twin share (2 people per cabin) we provide a 10% discount. I understand that you were moved to another cabin free of charge. We hope this was more than suitable. After reviewing the organisation of the cruise by the Onboard Representative, they were rated all 5 stars which includes; destination, organisation and friendliness. We thank you for your review.
Breakfast - always a limited time of an hour and if you wanted a sleepin you then missed breakfast, if you weren't going on an excursion you still had to get up extra early to get breakfast. Had to ask for butter and jam every day as there was none laid on table. Breakfast and lunch were very poor on the first few day until many people complained - Breakfast was greatly improved but not so much the lunch. Lunch could be simplified with mixed salads and cold meats, Lighter meals not so much three course.The food took a long time to be served in between courses. Swim stops were not fantastic as we have had before. It just felt like the crew were in automatic mode without great thought to what they were doing. This was a trip I have enjoyed immensely in the past and have raved about to many people who have also then taken the trip. We paid a lot more this year but seem to have gotten less. So disappointed.
- Nicky, 11/07/2022 08:26, Travelled with Friend/s
Hi there and thank you for your review. We hope you were able to enjoy Croatia whilst you were there and immerse yourself in the beautiful country and culture. We are sorry to hear of your disappointment with some aspects of your cruise. Breakfasts are offered to all guests and the opening times are advised by the Onboard Representative. The chef will always provide more breakfast options upon request. The chef aims to provide fresh meals using local produce, they operate out of a small kitchen and we understand that not all meals are to everyone's taste. We appreciate your comments here and these will be passed on. Lookng at the meal feedback for your week onboard, the average rating was 4 stars. We are sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the swim stops like you had in the past, our captain aims to provide a good balance between land vs sea, mooring up into secluded bays for all guests to enjoy. We do hope that the issues experience didn't detract from your overall enjoyment, as this is certainly not a reflection of the high standards we expect week after week. We hope that you join us again in the future and we thank you again for your review.
I would like to warn others considering booking any cruises with Sail Croatia. I had 8 items of ladies clothing taken from our cabin wardrobe after I had left them there after departing the ship. The cleaning staff came in immediately after we walked out, knocking on our door to get in while we were still packing up. In our haste the clothed were left behind. Not noticing they were missing until the next day, we emailed Sail Croatia and notified them. The cabin was apparently checked and nothing found. And that was the extent to which Sail Croatia went to try and get my clothes back from the cleaning staff who did our cabin. Visited the Sail Croatia office in Split expecting something at least to be done, they promised to stay in touch. I had to email them to try and get some answers. The "Operations Team" were contacted so I was told in a reply and nothing was found. Phoned the office and was told the clothes would have been disposed of! Very upset customer.
- Angela, 28/05/2019 08:48, Travelled in a Couple
Thank you for your review. I can see from your onboard feedback, provided to us at the end of your cruise, that you gave us a rating of 5-stars, this overall rating includes; the staff, onboard meals, ship in general, optional excursions and your onboard representative. Thank you for this. However, we are sorry to hear of your disappointment mainly regarding the items left in your cabin. We do state on our Pre-departure information, and via the welcome speeches onboard, that all items must be removed from your cabin at the end of your cruise and that Sail Croatia will not be held liable for any lost items. I can see that you had also emailed us once you realised the items were left behind. Our process is that any left items found by the cleaning staff will be handed to our Lost Property team and logged via our internal records. However, once followed up with our Operations Team unfortunately no items were found by the cleaning staff. We have since provided you with an insurance letter so that you can recover the costs of the items via your Insurance company. We do hope that the result of your lost property didn't deter from the amazing 5-star experience you had onboard. Thank you again for your review!
The communication to passengers of last minute changes to the itinerary. Changes were for the worst and not for the better. Some examples of our experience were; docking boat at the same port on consecutive nights & not being able to dock in Hvar. Hvar being a highlight. Not having the opportunity to visit the Blue Caves (aparently due to bad weather & poor choice in schedule change as we had 2 days in the area). It just so happens the same occurred to friends of ours on a previous Sail Croatia cruise. We had a tour leader who was un-enthusiastic most of the time and provided misguided advice at ports, The activities were over priced and not value for money.
- Lisa , 04/09/2016 11:50, Travelled with Friend/s
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. I am sorry to hear that you felt the communication to passengers regarding itinerary changes wasn't clear. On some occasions the Captain may change the itinerary due to weather and does this for the safety of passengers. Whilst at the time of docking the weather may seem perfect, this can in fact change drastically within a few hours and the captain will be aware of this hours in advance. In ports such as Hvar where it is quite open and susceptible to rocky seas if a storm strikes the captain may decide to dock at Stari Grad where the port is fully protected. As the boats will be docked for around 12 hours, for the safety of our guests he will decide to dock at the safest port possible that offers the most protection from stormy weather. Customer service is very important to us here at Sail Croatia, and we want to ensure passengers have a positive experience whilst on their cruise, your comments about your Sail Croatia Representative have been passed on to our Operations Manager for further training in this area. We pride ourselves on supporting local businesses and work with local suppliers to provide excursions for our guests that cater to all budgets, we also have the excursion prices listed on our website to help with budgeting prior to the cruise. Thank you again for your review.