Great hikes, challenging uphills at times in the heat, but manageable. Terrific food! Wonderful swims off the boat. Made new friends Helpful crew and super friendly!and knowledgeable guides. False advertising in some info pre-cruise. There was no “pasta making workshop” for example.
- Anonymous, 01/07/2024 10:17,
Thank you for your 4 star review and for taking the time to share your experience on our Hike Croatia cruise! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the hikes and the challenge, found the food to be terrific, and appreciated the wonderful swim stops. It's always fantastic to hear that our guests are making new friends and enjoying the company of our super friendly crew and knowledgeable guides. We are sorry to hear about the confusion regarding the pasta-making workshop. You're absolutely right; we do have this featured, but not on our Hike cruises as it is part of our Elegance cruise itinerary. We genuinely appreciate your feedback, as it helps us improve our services and guest experience. We hope to welcome you back on another adventure soon, perhaps even our Elegance cruise! Thank you once again for your kind words and for choosing Sail Croatia.
The crew on the Emanuel was terrific. They were attentive and very professional. The ship is kept in tip top shape; everything is very clean. Everything was well-organized and there was a good balance between programmed activities and free time. The maximum capacity for passengers was 30 and we had 27 aboard. It was a very good number. The views were spectacular and all of the places we visited were beautiful and interesting.
- Pam, 13/05/2024 07:36, Travelled with Friend/s
The crew on the Emanuel were fantastic. The cabin was comfortable and the meals were good. The walks ( which require a good level of fitness) were outstanding. On our trip unfortunately the Sail Croatia guides were poor communicators and held too many poorly prepared briefings. Sail Croatia mis pricing it’s marchandise was a minor but sour note. In summary the islands of Croatia are magical and there are some magnificent hikes
- Sam, 13/05/2024 06:25,
Hi Sam, thank you for your review and for taking the time to share your experience with us. We are so pleased to read you had a fantastic time on board Emanuel for your Hike cruise with us this season, it was a pleasure to have you join us. The comments you've noted have been communicated with the relevant teams, so that improvements can be made where possible. Thank you for this and for a memorable week on board!
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!
We had a great week , enjoying well guided hikes and sensational swim stops .
- Anonymous, 19/09/2023 08:57, Travelled with Friend/s
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.
We had a great holiday and enjoyed the hikes and the great company onboard. The breakfast was good with a mediocre lunch onboard. The guides were very helpful and the scenery spectacular we would recommend this holiday if you like the outdoors and want to meet new friends. Croatia is a beautiful country to explore.
- David, 15/05/2023 13:16,
Hi David, thank you for your review of your Hike cruise with us on board Milena, one of our Premier ships. We're so pleased to hear that overall you enjoyed your time with us and made new friends whilst exploring Croatia. Thank you for joining us!
First time with sail Croatia the crew were lovely friendly but were not invasive and gave you your privacy. The boat particularly the cabins were above my expectations we were in the bottom deck at the back and yes when the engines started up it was your early alarm clock but did not upset us as we needed to be organised for the day ahead. we had Mate and Marin as our guides and they were marvellous and knowledgable and even though they had a few difficult characters to manage they were always professional and polite. Over all had a great holiday the only reason for 4 stars was it would have been good to have the cabin floor sweeper daily as we were bringing in a lot of stones from our trips. The food was fantastic and never a day when we did not enjoy it the chef went above and beyond and mario the host at the meals could not go enough for us. The facilities on the sip were great from the sun lounging deck to the bar.
- Margaret, 19/09/2022 16:49, Travelled with Friend/s
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!
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.
Staff was very friendly and supportive! Variety of activities were available.
- Anonymous, 19/09/2019 20:01, Travelled with Family
Thank you for your review of your Hike cruise with us this season on board Milena.
Well organized by friendly staffs and suited to us.
- Nancy , 17/09/2019 02:31, Travelled with Friend/s
Thank you for your review and for joining us on board Milena!
Booking and pre-holiday information easy and accessible. Boat easy to locate at Split. Cruise director friendly and welcoming. Cabin and en-suite (lower deck, single occupancy) clean and tidy. Would have been cramped for two. Bedding a little damp each night, probably due to air-con and lack of ventilation. Plenty of public spaces on board for enjoying the weather. Breakfast: continental and cooked. Daily 3 course meal: simple, reasonably good, quite varied. Served as lunch, sometimes as late as 4pm. Packed lunch would have been preferable. Hiking: great walks, steep climbs and descents, a lot of rocky ground and loose stone. Fantastic views and countryside. Hike leadership: lack of awareness of individual capabilities of the group. Leader usually well ahead and, at times, out of sight. Resulted in group being too strung out. Even worse when combined with another group. When an accident occurred, he was completely unaware and eventually returned about 10 minutes later.
- Anonymous, 16/09/2019 10:59, Travelled with Friend/s
Thank you for your review. We are really pleased to hear your experience with our Sales team was easy and seamless, and that you found the boat easy to locate in Split. We're glad your Cruise Director was warm and welcoming. It's great to know that you enjoyed most aspects of your cruise and we appreciate your suggestion of a packed lunch, which we will take into consideration for future trips. It's great to know you enjoyed the hikes overall and found them to be a varied with amazing views. We appreciate your comments on the Hike Leader, and we have taken these onboard and will be providing further training and assistance wherever required. Thank you for raising your concerns with us and we appreciate all your comments here. Thank you for choosing to travel with Sail Croatia!
We loved the hiking but our chaotic guide let us down at times, A bit rushed and not enough consideration for the slower walkers and no time allowed for them to rest once they caught up. I was amazed we didn’t actually lose anyone and at times felt it was a bit dangerous, especially when on one walk a small group were allowed to hike a section on their own without a guide. The timing of the walks needs reviewing. The trip was advertised to inc lunch or dinner, sometimes lunch was served at 4pm due to timing of walks, this should have been an evening meal instead with a packed lunch provided, also not keen on a 3 course lunch just before a walk. The boat was very nice with a great crew and couldn’t fault it other than the bedding feeling damp for most of the trip. The real positive is that we had a really nice time with our friends and fellow guests and thoroughly enjoyed Beautiful Croatia. Dislike being advised / told how much to tip by hostess. £130/150 not impressed!
- Nigel, 16/09/2019 07:45, Travelled with Friend/s
Hi Nigel, thank you for your review. We are really pleased to hear you loved the hiking aspect of your cruise and found the boat to be of a high standard with a great crew. It's also great to know you had a lovely time with your friends and fellow guests, travelling the beautiful islands in Croatia. However, we are sorry to read of your disappointment with some aspects of the cruise, mainly regarding the meal times and guide. We appreciate your suggestions of having evening meals with a packed lunch, and this will be passed on to our Operations Team for future improvements. In regards to your guide, your comments we have taken onboard and will be passed on to the Operations Manager to deal with accordingly, we thank you for advising us. We have highlighted the tipping aspect of this to our Operations Manager who will be reiterating to all guides that we do not have a tipping policy and this is completed at your discretion. Thank you again for all your comments, this is appreciated.
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 :-)
The overall experience was just a lot of fun and unique to anything I’ve tried before. Beyond my expectations Very friendly and accommodating staff, food was good and the cook very much catered to my GF ͏Di͏e͏t. The rooms were basic but perfect & comfortable for the size of ship. I appreciated being able to go to smaller ports/cities on the islands that larger ships wouldn’t be able to. I felt seeing the wildflowers in bloom was a real plus and should be included in advertising for future May trips. The hikes provided amazing views and our guide was a lot of fun and passionate about sharing about Croatians and the history. He was great! I do think a better description of hikes could be provided in advertising as we were a bit surprised at the level of hikes, but we were troupers and only missed the 1 steepest hike. Perhaps it was the pics of past trips, just walking thru the villages as opposed to understanding the steep elevations. Only reason for not being 5 star.
- Denise , 30/05/2019 14:57, Travelled with Friend/s
Hi and thank you for your review! We are really happy to hear you enjoyed our cruise and all it has to offer. Thank you for your comments, it's nice to know that you found our Hike cruise fun and unique to another you have tried before, and even better that the guide provided you with details around the history of the cities visited, as well as sharing his passion for Croatia as a whole. Your comments will be passed on to the captain and crew as I'm sure they will enjoy the feedback. In regards to the meals onboard, our chef aims to cater to dietary requests by offering more of the foods you can eat, so we are really happy to hear you enjoyed the meals provided. We believe that the cities and islands in Croatia are amongst the best in the world, and we are glad you agree! Thank you for your feedback around the description of the hikes, we will pass this on to the relevant team. Thanks again.
Our crew was incredible! The food plentiful and delicious. The cabins were roomy and comfortable. Due to weather our itinerary was changed. The captain and crew did an amazing job rerouting. There was plenty to see and do at every port. I feel the hikes could have been better. We hiked mostly up hill at a fast pace with not much flora and fauna along the way. The cabins need hooks on the wall for hanging. There are no amenities in the cabin - soap, shampoo, hair dryer. I would recommend this trip without hesitation.
- Sherri, 27/05/2019 05:42, Travelled with Friend/s
Hi there and thanks for your 4-star review. We are really happy to hear you found the crew incredible, the food delicious and the cabins comfortable and spacious. We will be sure to pass your comments on to the captain and crew, as I'm sure they will enjoy the read. We thank you for your comments about the hike itself, our aim is to provide a variety of hiking challenges, catering to all levels. Croatia in itself provides stunning scenery, so we hope that you still got to soak in the beauty of the Croatian coastline! Amenities are generally not provided on Hike cruises, however can be bought at local supermarkets. Thank you for your recommendation of having hooks on the walls - we appreciate it and all your comments! We are pleased you had a wonderful experience :-). Thank you.
I really enjoyed the Hiking cruise. The hikes are beautiful (but weather dependent). Most hikes were only 2.5-3 hours and be prepared to spend quite a lot of time sailing between islands. I would recommend the trip for solo travelers, whatever age. Our group had a spread of ages from early 20s to 60s.
- Anonymous, 20/05/2019 16:28, Travelled Solo
Thank you for your 5-star review on our Hike cruise. We are pleased to hear you enjoyed the cruise overall and were onboard with a variety of travellers. We aim to provide a good balance between hiking, sailing, enjoying swim stops in lovely secluded bays, and also allowing free time at each destination. We are happy to know you found this a great way to see Croatia! Thank you.
The captain was skilled and a good man. Gordana, our passenger representative, organizer, and secondary guide was truly amazing. She had everything covered for anybody, and so on task. Ljubo, the guide, was exceptional, a man passionate about his work. He had relevant briefings before each hike, and led us to a different experience on each hike. His hikes were well thought out and his knowledge of the country was added value. The crew all aimed to make the experience positive.
- simonne, 15/10/2018 14:33, Travelled with Friend/s
Good food, company and exercise. Well trained staff, beautiful weather.
- Rodney, 18/09/2018 13:24, Travelled in a Couple
Fantastic experience from booking (with no single person suppliment), to the staff involved in the boat and guides. Super affordable when taking into the fact you have accommodation for 7 nights and 2 meals a day, let alone the hikes. Sail Croatia provided me with the holiday of a lifetime and breathtakingly mountain and island port views. Thank you all.
- Stefan, 17/09/2018 08:59, Travelled Solo
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
Hikes in the morning. Swim stops and quaint ports.
- Karen, 27/06/2017 17:09,
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
What made this cruise so great was the combination crew, host and guide. As a returning customer I was familiar with Sail Croatia and generally knew what to expect.
- Gregg, 19/06/2017 11:46, Travelled with Friend/s
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!
The crew, our tour operators, other passengers & really enjoyed the walking,, although walking paths had not been investigated enough!
- Barbara, 22/05/2017 19:37, Travelled with Friend/s
Active Croatia, hiking tour, first week October: Positives: The group were all great fun. Ages ranged from mid 20s to mid 60s along with the consequential mixed abilities. The slow were determined to get up the hills and the fast were patient and supportive. The evenings and dinners were comradely and a dose of \"Cards against humanity\" tore up all inhibitions. The hikes were good and varied. What could have been better: The boat, not having hot-water available for showers after a sweaty walk on some days was poor. Our guide was not a walking guide and did very well given she didn\'t know the routes and we got lost a few times. She and her colleague were personally great and did really well but we paid for a guide not a guide\'s learning experience. Advice: Croatia\'s weather is changeable at this time of year, I hadn\'t realised just how cold the cold days were (8 oC). If you\'re going this late have some warm clothing with you. Overall a lovely trip, would highly recommend
- Michael, 10/10/2016 15:39, Travelled with Family