Monet Adriatic cruise

We took a 14-day Adriatic cruise from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Venice, ltaly, aboard the m/v Monet, March 16-30, ’05, with Elegant Cruises & Tours. We arranged it through TravLtips (Flushing, NY; 800/872-8584).

We took advantage of the off-season rates; they will be available again in November. The Monet has three cabin categories and we chose the middle one, but we heard no complaints about any. The published base price for this category was $5,060, but the TravLtips price was $3,645. In addition, we paid $120 in port and customs fees.

TravLtips had Tyree Travel handle the air, and it was $1,016 each to and from Kansas City, Missouri. This included a travel agent markup of $100 per person. No transfers were included.

We also purchased trip insurance for $287 each (6% of the cost of the trip). This meant that the cruise plus air came to over $10,000 for two. It was worth it.

Upon landing in Dubrovnik we took a bus from the airport to a stop near our hotel. When we left our hotel, we took a taxi to the ship. After disembarking in Venice, we took a taxi from the ship to the airport and it cost $50 per person.

We went to Dubrovnik one day early so we could have extra time to “walk the wall.” We made arrangements to stay that night at Vila Micika, a 7-room hotel within walking distance of a local bus stop.

The rooms were small but clean and comfortable. We paid the off-season rate of €50 (near $65) for one night, including breakfast. They did not have breakfast on site, and the facility they use for breakfast was a considerable walk downhill. The host was congenial and was there to order a taxi for us when it was time to head for the ship.

The weather during our cruise was perfect — mostly sunny days, with temperatures usually reaching into the 60s. The sea was calm for the entire trip. There were land excursions each day, including one into Montenegro and one into Slovenia.

The Monet has a capacity of 61 passengers, but we had just 38. It was our good fortune to have an extremely congenial group of travelers on board; about half of them were from the U.K. We think that most people who take this trip are going to be well traveled, well educated and interesting.

The crew members were friendly and efficient and the tour director was helpful and knowledgeable. Some evenings we had a guest lecturer on local customs, sights or politics.

The food was exceptional. The young chef was delightful and truly wanted to please all of us. He offered various regional specialties; always provided hot, fresh bread for breakfast, and for each dinner’s main course had a choice of fish, meat (mostly beef) and a vegetarian entrée.

All meals were “open seating,” so we ate at least one meal with almost everyone in the group. We made our dinner selection at lunch, thus allowing the chef to have the right amount of each entrée.

Dinner was somewhat formal, with numerous courses all attractively served. Lunch was semibuffet with several choices for a main course and the chef helping to serve. There were always two soups at lunch and two at dinner and they were excellent.

The evening dress code seemed to be “elegant casual” and men wore jackets to most dinners, but those who did not were not made to feel uncomfortable about it. Daytime wear was casual for touring, walking on stone pavements, climbing many stairs, etc.

Some of the shore excursions proved a bit strenuous and difficult for any who had mobility problems. Of course, there was always the option of remaining on the ship, where the lounge had tea, coffee and cookies available 24 hours plus a small library and lots of comfortable seating. Those who chose to smoke could do so on the sun deck. The front deck was a great place to watch as the ship docked or left port.

In every case we were able to dock (not use tenders), and in most cases the dock was near enough to the Old Town for extra exploring after the scheduled excursions.

ATMs were available in most towns for those who needed local cash, but there was not a lot of shopping to be done. It was handy to have some kunas for tips or small purchases in Croatia. Venues on the ship accepted either U.S. dollars or euros.

Internet cafés were scarce, but a few were close enough to the ship so we could send messages and check our mail. Rates were reasonable, equal to one or two dollars for 10 to 20 minutes.

The ship would handle e-mail, but this was kept to a minimum as it took the time of the first mate to send or receive and in some ports there was no reception. It was good to know that we could be reached within a day’s time, however, and the staff was very gracious about printing and delivering mail they received for us.

If there were any negatives, it would be that we did not receive our papers on this trip until 10 days before we were to leave.

And the air schedule by Tyree Travel left much to be desired. We had a 5-hour layover in the Frankfurt airport and heard calls for several flights to Dubrovnik as we waited. We were routed via Zagreb, which meant one more airport, one more plane change. We went through five airports that day.

Our return flight from Venice was at 6:15 a.m. Ship personnel arranged for transportation to the airport, but since no one else was flying that early we could not share the cost and ended up paying €70 ($90) for the ride. The tour director and hotel manager were both up to see us off at 4:30 and a light breakfast was available, so the ship’s staff definitely did all they could.

We notice that more and more tour companies are scheduling trips to Croatia and we understand why. It is a very interesting country with fascinating history and friendly people. Many Croatians speak English, and for those who don’t, a smile and simple gestures will usually work. The sea was an excellent way to get around Croatia, but that country is developing better roads inland for car and bus travel. We would encourage ITN readers to consider Croatia.

If anyone has questions about our trip, we would be glad to respond.

RUTH HARRIS
Concordia, KS