Last year on our European adventure there were so many places we thoroughly enjoyed but never expected to return to. Croatia was one of them.

After our 7-day Sail Croatia adventure in August 2015, we checked it off and moved on. However, we were invited back to sail for 7 days on a beautiful wooden ship, with very close family friends and their entire family. How could we decline?

It was a full boat coming together from all corners of the globe; South Africa, America, Australia and England.

Cesarica (Our Home)

“Cesarica is a wooden boat that provides a luxury yacht experience” – Well that it does!

Boy was she a beauty! Built only 3 years ago, the boat is 41 meters long, 9 meters wide, boasts 3 different sized decks including one with a jacuzzi. The boat is fitted with 22 cabins all with ensuite bathrooms. Fancy ensuite bathrooms! Each of them has a glass-enclosed massaging shower, marble countertop and glass vessel sinks. I mean, this was pretty special and definitely up there with one of the nicest bathrooms/bedrooms we’ve had on this trip so far. Oh, that Mahogany!

The “salon” as they call it was our dining room and where we gained approximately 100kg in 7 days. Each meal was so carefully prepared and absolutely delicious. There’s no surprise that we love our food, so when the Chef told us we would receive a buffet breakfast + a 3-course meal every lunch for 7 days, you can only imagine our eyes became bigger than our stomachs and continued to stay that way for 7 days.

The chef created any dish you could think of, however, seafood was definitely the theme. Croatia is well known for seafood and we were treated to a tonne from the ocean throughout the week. Thankfully the waiter was all too happy to help with some filleting of the fish… 🙂

Whole fish, tuna steaks, octopus salads and shrimp were among the most popular dishes, however, on our last night, to celebrate a 30th birthday on board, we had one of the nicest fillets of steak ever eaten. It definitely gave Argentinian steaks a run for their money.

Apart from our fabulous chef, we had a waiter, a head engineer & 3 sailors to keep the boat running smoothly. The crew went above and beyond to help us whenever we needed anything and it really contributed to making this an unforgettable week. Massive shout out to the waiter who poured more chocolate milkshakes for us in 2 days than he has in his entire 13-year career… whoops!

The boat was absolutely beautiful, the food was beyond delicious, the crew extremely helpful, but I think it’s worth a mention that the wifi worked better on the ship – in the middle of nowhere – than it did in our hotel, on land, in Split. You can only imagine who was happy about that…

Croatian Islands

Along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea there are more than 1000 Croatian islands. Only 15 of these islands have an area greater than 50 km²   and a population of over 1000 people whilst the rest are very small and uninhabited.

Of those 15 islands, we began in Split and sailed our way to Brač,  Stari Grad, Vela Luka, Korcula, Pučišća, Makarska before finishing back up in Split.

The Croatian towns are some of the most quaint towns in Europe. The small harbours are filled with numerous fishing boats, the stone houses and small alleyways make for fun exploring and we can’t forget the perfect sunsets, cute restaurants and mountainous scenery. We didn’t spend longer than one night in each of the ports but it was enough to enjoy what each village had to offer all whilst getting a taste of the Croatian lifestyle.

For more details on each port, refer back to our previous Sail Croatia post.

A day on our Croatian Sail 

Every morning, our alarms went off and the smell of bacon and toast filled our cabins. If that wasn’t enough to get us up, it was the crystal clear water that was only one step away from our cabin door.

The breakfast buffet sprawled out over 2 tables with a vast variety of choices. It wasn’t just yoghurt and muesli for breakfast this week, we had eggs, bacon, pastries, sausages, cheese, fruits, cold meats, smoked salmon, slices of bread, cereals, juices. You name it, and it was there and if it wasn’t, the chef was all too happy to get it for you. We definitely started the day off right! Now, can someone invent a quick method of losing the weight as fast as you can gain it in one week?

After breakfast, the sundeck kept us hot whilst we cruised to our next destination. We relaxed on the deck, read books, played games, soaked up the sun and caught up with each other before reaching our next swim stop.

Swim stops were the definite highlight (apart from the food and chocolate milkshakes). We stopped in little bays that allowed us to swim, snorkel, float with our floaties, one of which we named “sally” (the flamingo), fool around with dives/jumps and even exercise.

Our exercise routine consisted of 4 laps around the boat, each with a different stroke, treading of water, balancing on the SUP board and pull-ups on the ladder. If you read our 9 tips to staying healthy on the road, you’ll notice this falls under being creative! Make use of what you have and have fun with it!

What else is there to do in a day? Nothing. Nothing at all and it was absolutely perfect. Does life get any better than this? Do any more words even need to be spoken? I think not. Pictures tell 1000 words.

If you’re in need of a family vacation, reunion or simply a friendly get-together, consider a 7 day trip with Cesarica. The crew, the boat, the food and the scenery is the definition of perfection.

Another huge thank you to the Baillies for inviting us on this amazing vacation! It was absolutely perfect and definitely finished with a bang!

Married days survived; 529

Photos