Croatian Cruise Day 3 – 5
Day 3
Each morning we start cruising at around 7am so no need to set the alarm as the ships engine starting up will wake you. Breakfast is then served from 8am – 9am. The group are really bonding so meal times are now somewhat noisier with lots of chatter about the night before. It is great that everyone is mixing so well and we all sit with different people at each meal.
We steadily cruise south passing various islands and finally dock at our next destination, Korcula. It is quite busy here with other boats so we have to dock alongside another 5. It is a ruling that each boat must allow passengers from other boats to walk through them.
The sixth largest island in Croatia, Korcula is 20 miles long and rather narrow, between 4 and 5 miles wide on average. This island is known for its dense forest and the ancient Greeks called the island Black Korcula (Kerkyra melaina) for this reason. Korcula Town (people call it “Little Dubrovnik” because of its medieval squares, churches, palaces and houses),
Jelena (our ships tour manager/ bar manager/waitress, main co-ordinator) arranges an optional walking tour of Korcula with a very amusing local guide, Andrea. The cost is 80 Kuna and half the boat have booked. The rest of the evening is spent exploring Korcula. Instead of a having dinner with he rest of the group, I decided to grab a snack then invest 90 kuna on the submarine trip. The attraction was that it was dark by his time so thought it would be really interesting. There were quite a few fish but nothing colourful. We all returned to the boat by about 10pm.
Day 4 and we were off again and still heading north, arriving at Hvar late afternoon. The weather has been glorious with virtually clear blue skies so various swimming sops are made en route.
Hvar has a reputation as being a real party island in the height of the season. Might be worth avoiding at that time. Hvar is famous for its 13th century walls, hilltop fortress, Hvar cathedral and nearby lavander fields . There’s an abundance of bars and restaurants along the promenade and quaint little shops along the narrow cobbled streets.
I returned to the boat around 9.45pm to find that nearly everyone was already back and enjoying yet another singsong and dancing in the lounge. It was extremely riotous but loads of fun. Eventually we retired to bed at midnight.
Day 5 -- Judging by the distinct lack of people on deck after breakfast, proves that a few people were nursing sore heads and had returned to bed. After a late morning swimming stop, we were served a fish lunch on board before making our way to the village of Trstenik. Some of the group decided to go for the wine tasting as Trstenik is especially renowned for its wine.
The day concluded with the weekly Captain’s dinner. Apparently the Captain prepares the starter which is a selection of meat, cheese and salad items. The Captain makes a short speech. We are served steak, followed by a delicious dessert and afterwards the Captains asks someone for a dance. Yes, you guessed it, it was me. The rest of the evening followed much the same format as the other evenings, music, dancing and lots of drinking!