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.
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.
“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!
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.
I enjoyed the Sail Croatia experience, however, do feel that it can be very much luck of the draw when it comes to other boat personnel, which is such a crucial aspect of the week. When there are multiple large groups on each vessel, it can be hard to really get groups interacting all together, especially for solos. The other issue can be around age disparity. Perhaps more transparency over the booking arrangements of each boat could help this.
- Edward, 11/07/2023 14:52, Travelled Solo
Hi Edward, thank you for taking the time to review your Navigator cruise with us this season - it was a pleasure to have you on board. We're very happy reading that you enjoyed your Sail Croatia experience, this is great. With regards to your feedback on fellow travellers, I will be sure to pass this onto the relevant teams. All of our Navigator cruises are open to guests aged between 18 and 39 years old, so the age range is quite wide and our Reps work hard to create a good group dynamic that everyone on board can enjoy. I can see you had other solo guests on your cruise, which is always nice to see. We hope to see you join us again! Thank you.
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 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.
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.
1. The transfer car from the airport at Split dropped us off by the harbour, a long way from our hotel (which we had to locate ourselves). We could have been driven closer or shown where we could hire a 'golf car' to take us to our hotel. 2. On the boat the air conditioning unit drew air from the rear deck where the crew smoked. This made the atmosphere in our cabin very unpleasant. 3. Please supply black-tea (eg. English or Irish Breakfast Tea) on board. It would be much appreciated by British / Australian / New Zealand guests. Other than this we enjoyed the cruise.
- Anonymous, 07/10/2019 11:18, Travelled with Family
Thank you for your review. We are glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise experience overall. However, we are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with some aspects, which I wish to clarify for you. Our airport transfers will collect you from the airport and drop you as close as possible to the hotel. As your hotel was based in central Split, this is a highly pedestrianised area and does not allow vehicle access I'm afraid. We are sorry that this was not made clear prior to your arrival. We have designated smoking areas, generally towards the back of the boat however, we do appreciate your comments on this and we will pass this on to the Operations Team. Thanks for your suggestion of a variety of tea bags, we will pass this on to the relevant team. We appreciate all your suggestions here, 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.
Before booking my tour I asked to be put in a boat with solo travellers, as I myself was travelling solo and they said it would not be a problem. To my surprise I got put in a boat with couples and and people who knew each other. Careful going on the smaller boat because you might be stuck with people who are close and will be hard to make friends.
- Fatah, 02/08/2019 09:11, Travelled Solo
Hi there. Many thanks for your review. I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment of the tour. I have looked through previous correspondence and can see you were advised we only had availability on our Under 35s Yacht Tours for your requested departure date, so we did not have any other options available for you at the time, I'm afraid. Our Under 35s Yacht Tours consist of a group of usually 6 to 8 yachts sleeping 8 passengers on each sailing together in a flotilla, so it usually a very social experience. I checked and can see your departure had 47 guests across 6 yachts to enjoy the social experience on board. Thank you for joining us this season :)
Went on the Navigator North trip with the Tarin boat. We had no overnight power for 2-3 days when docked in port, therefore our fans in the room did not work in the intense heat, People resorted to sleeping on the roof as the cabins were unbearably hot. We also couldn't charge our mobile phones in order to take pictures the next day, set alarms, etc. Our water dispenser was taken off the boat a day before the cruise ended because the boat was going to be used by another company the following day. The whole boat vibrated when moving, making sleep in the morning extremely difficult. Eggs were not provided for breakfast every day. In fact the were on a random scheduled according to how the chef felt. One day I woke up for breakfast only to be told the eggs had already finished.. The next day I woke up earlier and was told eggs were only made every second day and not daily. On the plus side we did visit some pretty cool places and met some amazing people. Tarin and Ivanna were great!
- Anonymous, 18/09/2018 01:55, Travelled Solo
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your review! It is great to hear you that you enjoyed the destinations visited on your Navigator Cruise, and that your Tour Manager and the crew onboard Tarin ensured you had a great week onboard. Cooked breakfast isn’t provided on our Navigator cruises as an inclusion and we are very pleased to hear you had enjoyed a hot breakfast on certain days throughout the week. I have checked our internal reporting system and unfortunately I was unable to find any reports of feedback referencing the fans and water dispenser onboard. Had your onboard Tour Manager been made aware of your concerns, we would have been more than happy to resolve these issues whilst you were on the cruise. Thank you again for your feedback, as only through this feedback, can we improve our products and services.
Free tea and coffee available on the boat outside meal times. More hanging space for wet clothing and more pegs.
- susan, 13/10/2017 15:37, Travelled with Family
Thank you for your review. Tea & Coffee availability is something we are currently looking into for future seasons. Thank you for your suggestion of more hanging space and pegs, this will be passed on to the Operations Team for potential future improvements. Thank you.
1. When booking, we were never told that we would have to pay all on-board charges with cash - not our credit card at the end of our cruise. 2. Staffing Issues - although the staff on board was extremely friendly, for an 'Elegance Cruise' there should be more staff (i.e. guest should not have to walk to the bar to order, staff should circulate the boat to take orders during opening hours). 3. Meals - Breakfast is only available for 1 hour (8am-9am) each day. Passengers are on holiday, they should be offered meal options whenever they wish. Also, rather than a daily 3 course lunch menu - average at best - an al-a-cart menu should be offered. Many people would prefer to experience local restaurants on the islands rather than being restricted to a 2+ hour on-board lunch every day! 4. Lack of time on islands. On many days, arrival to the next island was AFTER a 2+hour on-board lunch. Arriving earlier would be much better.
- KENNETH, 23/08/2016 16:40, Travelled with Family
Thank you for your feedback regarding your Elegance cruise. I'm happy to read that you found the staff extremely friendly. I am sorry that it wasn't clearly communicated with you that cash is to be used on-board. We will be implementing a new bar tab system next season, and we are also currently looking at offering alternative payment methods in the near future. We have found that in the past passengers prefer having lunch on-board instead of evening meals as they like to experience the local cuisine in the evenings. Arrival time into port depends on port traffic, scheduling and weather - I am sorry that you found this to be too late. We have found that our guests prefer a swim stop before lunch, then after lunch we would make our way to the next destination. Swim stops can sometimes delay the arrival time at the next destination. In regards to your suggestion of having staff circulate the boat to take drinks orders, this is a great suggestion and I have passed this on to the Operations Team for improvements - thank you. We are always looking at ways to improve our services. Thank you again for taking the time to provide feedback and we hope that the issues onboard didn't detract from experiencing the beauty Croatia has to offer.
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.