Crusing on the Adriatic!

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A summary of my debut cruise. Sorry this is short and sweet but on this occasion I do not have as much time as I would like to have for blogging.

We meant to have done the cruise last year but thanks to Iceland's volcanic ash it never happened! See Nature...beyond our control and expecting the unexpected!. The refund we got back from the travel company enabled us to book another cruise with another company. We chose the 'Adriatic Explorer' and we began the maiden voyage one Friday evening from Corfu Town.

There is so much to see and do on deck and also on the shore. My highlight was going on shore and exploring the places we had stopped at. My family and I enjoyed dining at the Ship's Compass Restaurant on most evenings. I thoroughly enjoyed using the ship's facilities during my time on board. There was the Captain's Reception one evening where there were cocktails and a gala dinner.

We stopped off at the following places:

Corfu Town, Corfu, Greece:

Following a family holiday in 1990, I returned to the Island where we embarked on our ship to cruise the Adriatic. We did not see much of the Island on this occasion except for the airport, riding through Corfu Town and, of course, the town's port! I look forward to seeing more of Corfu on a future holiday!

Kotor, Montenegro:

We only had an afternoon to explore Kotor after a wonderful ride into Kotor Bay! I have never seen such beautiful coastline! On arrival at Kotor, I enjoyed a city walking tour and got to see the old city with its interesting historical buildings and architecture. What amazed me was seeing the city's fortifications high up in the mountains! Kotor is amazing with the city being surrounded by mountains and set in one of Europe's deepest fjords.

Koper, Slovenia:

We had a day to explore the city so, again, I joined a walking tour of the old town and saw various highlights such as the Praetorian Palace, Cathedral of Mary's Assumption, the City Tower, the former salt warehouse and the Koper Regional Museum.

Venice, Italy:

Visiting Venice must have been what a lot of people on the ship were waiting for! Angie and I chose 'Venice on Our Own' package where we got a return motor boat launch to near where St Mark's Square was. We had a great day exploring the Grand Canal, the backstreets, the canals, enjoying the Italian food and icecream and the famous sights. I love to return to Venice someday and spend more time in the city. My parents chose the Gondola option with visiting St Mark's Square but they did not reckon too much to the gondolas.

One of the highlights was the ship departing and passing Venice itself including St Mark's Square. The departure was accompanied with classical musical.

Split, Croatia:

I was pleasantly surprised with Split. Initially, I was not planning to go ashore to explore but at the last minute I decided to. I was very glad I did and checked out Diocletian's Palace, which is a World Heritage Site, with its ancient walls and marbled streets. Inside the Palace there is the cathedral of St Domnius and the Temple of Jupiter. It was also nice wanding along the port city's promenade.

Dubrovnik, Croatia:

This was the place I was looking forward to the most on the trip! It did not disappoint! My parents, Angie and I joined a 'Medieval Dubrovnik' Excursion where we took a scenic ride on the boat to the old harbour via the Lapad Pennisula. We then undertook a walking tour of the old city which included the Rector's Palace, the Cathedral, the Martime Museum and St John's Fortress. We had some free time where we explored Placa and its historic buildings on the main street before exiting through the Pila gate for our journey back to the ship. We travelled along the Zupa coastline where so high up we saw the old town and some Croatian Islands down below.

After Dubrovnik, we sailed back to Corfu Town where we disembarked and got our flight home. I thoroughly enjoyed my debut on the ship and I know I will be doing another cruise in the not too distant future!

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