First impression on boarding our allocated ship Eos, a three masted motor sailer, was we had drawn the short straw. It wasn’t as modern or sleek as most of the cruisers around us in Split harbour and our below deck cabin was tiny and cramped. However what followed was a week of brilliant fun and adventure that made the shortcomings of the accommodation seem a minor point. A new picture postcard location every day, beautiful ports, swim stops in secluded bays and a great group of fellow travellers from around the globe who we got to know on our daily hikes and evenings in the local bars cafes and restaurants. Our guides Mate and Lola were knowledgeable, responsible but also fun. The crew were great and the food on board was varied and tasty. The hikes were challenging but rewarding too, though I personally would have preferred more climbs with a bar at the top! We made some great friends and have fabulous memories of our week around the Islands of Croatia. Thanks to all.
- Tony, 26/09/2023 06:21, Travelled in a Couple
Hi Tony! Thank you for your 4-star review! We loved reading about your adventures on our Hike cruise and we are really happy to hear you had a wonderful time onboard. We appreciate all your comments regarding the destinations, delicious meals served, daily hikes and swimming out at sea in lovely secluded bays, thank you. Your kind comments will be passed on to the crew to enjoy also. I see you booked a Premier ship, which are more traditional in style. We have a wide range of ships in our fleet and the ships you refer to in the harbour, were likely to be a higher category ship such as Premier Plus ships, as these are more modern in style. We are thrilled to know you enjoyed your cruise overall, and you had a week full of fun and adventure and also made some new friends on your cruise - we're sure memories to last a lifetime! We hope to welcome you back for another Active Adventure soon!
Beautiful coves where anchor was dropped to allow us to swim off the swimming deck in crystal clear sea. Towns and villages were fantastic, each had a unique charm and some had summer music concerts to entertain. Hikes were enjoyable if challenging in the humidity. Whilst short in distance they all involved walking up steep and rugged terrain, do pack hiking poles! Mate was our experienced and very knowledgeable guide, we had complete trust in him. Decks were kept clean and tidy, there was always space to sunbathe. Meals onboard were tasty and well presented, a captain’s dinner was provided free one evening. Not rated 5 stars as our ship EOS (21 cabins) was tired and a little “crusty” in places, we were expecting a higher standard and more spacious accommodation. A good mix of English speaking passengers onboard, all respectful to each other and we made new friends for life.
- Carol, 25/09/2023 06:02, Travelled in a Couple
Hi Carol, thank you for your 4-star review! We are really happy to hear you had a wonderful time onboard our Hike cruise, and appreciate all your comments regarding the boat cleanliness, delicious meals onboard, daily hikes, destinations and swimming out at sea in lovely secluded bays, thank you. It sounds like you were able to fully immerse yourself in the country and culture, which we love hearing about! Your kind comments will be passed on to Mate and the rest of the crew. All Premier ships include ensuite bathrooms and air-conditioning, and each of our ships are unique in style. We aim to provide transparency for all ship types offered, and you will find the ship options outlined on our website under the Hike page. We are thrilled to know you have made life-long friends Carol, and we hope to welcome you back for another Active Adventure soon!
Loved the friendliness and openness of the crew and guides - showed us the best of Croatian people. There were a few "buts" - there were tv-s in cabins, but they didn't work, the lock of our cabin broke, took a while to get it sorted. The drinks on board cost twice that on shore - I only had 2 classes of wine during the trip and loads on shore - maybe the price policy needs to be worked on... I did also have a question about the wages of the crew and guides - maybe Sail Croatia should pay them more, add it to the overall cost and not do the whole "usually our guests leave tip that much". If people want to add extra tip, they could but this passive agressive - leaving the envelope and instructions how much people need to tip, is leaving a bit of unpleasant shadow to the trip.
- Anonymous, 22/05/2023 05:17, Travelled in a Couple
Hi there, thank you so much for your 4 star review and for joining us this season. We are so pleased to read how happy you were with the crew and guides on your cruise and I will be sure to pass your kind words on! Please be assured that your feedback is very important to us and has been well received. It is only with such feedback we can improve our services and experience for guests, where possible. The points you have raised will be passed onto the correct teams, so thank you for bringing these to our attention. We do have a blog on tipping available on the website as this is not compulsory in Croatia, so is entirely up to the individual if they wish to leave a tip. We wish to thank you for a pleasant week on board.
The boat was comfortable
- Anonymous, 04/10/2019 15:59, Travelled in a Couple
Thank you for joining us!
Food - consistently good - thanks to Rosa and Marco ehi did a great job Hikes & Information - excellent - (Matè and Kristijan are brilliant and worked well together) Boat - could have been better. Bathrooms need upgrading and/or more frequent cleaning.. Also better deck chairs and sun beds/cushions for sun bathing on the boat. The dining area was lovely and well maintained. The crew were helpful and friendIy.
- Russell, 30/09/2019 12:40, Travelled in a Couple
Hey Russell, Thank you for your review! We're pleased to hear you enjoyed your time on our cruise and found the food to be good quality - what our chefs do within a small space is just amazing! We are pleased that the crew made you feel welcomed and were helpful and friendly. Your comments on the boat itself will be taken onboard for future improvements, we appreciate this. Thank you again and we hope to see you back on another cruise soon!
Limit the group to hikers from one boat. Have hike leaders ensure group stays together and not just hike for their own enjoyment. Provide radio communication between the hike leader and the sweep so when someone is hurt it does not take fifteen minutes for the hike leader to return to the group and provide help. Stick to the itinerary other than weather related issues not just change to suit the next cruise or make it easier for the crew and hike leaders. Try and schedule the hikes in the morning versus mid afternoon in the heat of the day.
- Alan, 25/09/2019 06:40, Travelled in a Couple
Hi there and thank you for your review. We appreciate all your comments and suggestions, and we think that some of these can be implemented. I have passed your comments on to our Operations Team for suggested improvements, thank you. Generally speaking we have a guide and representative, one at the front, the other at the back of the group who are in constant communication and are able to assist wherever possible. We are also trialling new radio equipment, so all going well, we should see these implemented next season. I understand that on your cruise, there was a deviation from the original itinerary due to adverse weather conditions and due to this, you remained in Vis where our crew had organised a visit to the museum and wine tasting excursion, we hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for choosing to travel with Sail Croatia and we hope you enjoyed your time in Croatia overall.
We were well taken care of by the staff of Sail Croatia. Food was great. Scenery was lovely. Suggestions for island restaurants were great. One suggestion: Make sure each level of hikers has an accompanying guide. In several situations the advanced group had two guides and the moderate group had none.
- Jana, 23/09/2019 16:48, Travelled in a Couple
Many thanks for your review of your Hike cruise with us this season on board Milena. We are so pleased to read that the staff really took care of you on board, that you enjoyed the delicious meals served and also that you enjoyed exploring beautiful Croatia with us! I will be sure to pass your further feedback onto our Operations Manager. Thank you for joining us.
Visiting different places each day with good mix of group and self-guided activities with excellent staff support
- Lindon, 24/06/2019 19:22, Travelled in a Couple
Thanks for the 5-star review :-)
Good food, company and exercise. Well trained staff, beautiful weather.
- Rodney, 18/09/2018 13:24, Travelled in a Couple
Being able to have a hot shower once a day. Washing machine and dryer availability. Reported maintenance problems resolved.
- Anonymous, 14/05/2018 17:35, Travelled in a Couple
Hi there and thank you for your review! It is great to hear that any reported problems were resolved. Our guides do mention after the group comes back from hiking that if everyone showers at the same time, water might run cold. Thank you for your feedback in regards to washing machine and dryer availability. We will be sure to look into possibility of adding this on board the ship.
The country the sea the guides people on the boat Would have preferred a better boat
- Paul , 11/09/2017 11:25, Travelled in a Couple
The breakfasts and lunches were very good. The passengers all mixed well. Some of the walks were different from those in the itinerary. Disappointed that we did not stop in Korcula Town as advertised. Most nights were quite noisy so don't expect to get much sleep.
- Anonymous, 27/06/2017 11:33, Travelled in a Couple
Hiking was great, we liked our guides very much. Some problems were with noise in ports specially when our boat was parked my party boats for overnight stay. We could not sleep till 3am. Life hack for next sailors, bring ear plugs with you))). Do not take wine on board it is spoiled by the high temperature on board. Food on board was good. Next tour will be for us bikes)
- Artem, 26/06/2017 21:21, Travelled in a Couple
ANA our Cruise Manager was both professional and efficient. In particular l appreciated she was approachable at any time in a people friendly manner, felt we knew her which was refreshing. The crew were delightful, cook great but more fish would be appreciated. Passengers were a great friendly mix of all ages and a pleasure to be in their company. I would recommend Sail Croatia and wish you well.m
- Anonymous, 19/06/2017 07:51, Travelled in a Couple
Thank you for your review. We are pleased to hear you enjoyed our popular Hike cruise. Thank you for your comments regarding your Cruise Mananger Ana - these will be passed on to her. It's so nice to know you had a good mix of people on your cruise, sounds like you had some great company. Thank you for recommending us to others!
We enjoyed our time on the cruise - the staff were friendly and helpful, the food was great and the sights were lovely. Unfortunately miscommunication on board the boat was a common factor. We were not fully explained as to how the trip would work, how the systems worked (eg. Guide hired by sail Croatia, sailors and chef hired by the captain), what the itinerary was, when things cost more money. Most importantly the itinerary that was advertised online was explained to not be possible due to sailing times and we considered this to be mis-advertising. We understand that weather is a large contributing factor and will lead to changes but all aspects of the trip, be it catering times, walk styles, hints on what to pack, options of what we were allowed to do each day was not clearly explained by anyone on board and thought really needs to be put towards making sure an initial briefing is thorough so expectations are accurate.
- Andrew, 10/10/2016 11:28, Travelled in a Couple
Hi there, thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your Hike cruise It is fantastic to hear that you found the crew on-board helpful, the food great and the sights lovely. However, I am sorry to read that you found some miscommunication on-board. In the booking process, the reservations team are on hand to answer any questions you may have, and pre-departure documents are provided on the Online Account prior to your cruise. Upon boarding the ship, your Sail Croatia Representatives carry out a briefing where they cover all aspects of the cruise, from the itinerary to emergency procedures, they are also available during the entire week to assist guests. On some occasions, the itinerary is subject to change - this can be due to weather or restrictions at the ports. Thank you again for your feedback.