I am back home, and our next trip, a Paul Gaugin cruise to Tuamotus and Marquesas starting today was cancelled on Monday of this week, so I have some time to tell you how great the trip you organized for us in Croatia was.

The hotels were all excellent.  Amadria Park in Zagreb was one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in, and as you know, I have travelled a lot on business and for pleasure.  Great location, rooms were very nice and included breakfast spread was probably the best I have ever had.  The service, from the front desk when we arrived to the restaurant and check out was excellent.  This hotel should be an example for the Croatian tourist board of what to strive for when welcoming tourists from USA.

Degenija boutique hotel was also excellent, more modest but nevertheless great place to stay near the Plitvice Lakes Nat’l Park.  Rooms and service were also above expectations, and very convenient on site restaurant offered a nice selection of great dinner options for all tastes.  We even saw fireflies at night, thanks for arranging that!

The drivers were all very good too, and met all of our needs, which were quite challenging at times, and the vehicles were always clean and in top operational condition.  

Our ship Fantazija was nothing less than amazing.  The entire crew was excellent, from the Captain to the servers and kitchen staff.  They were there to satisfy our every wish, bringing us drinks and cappuccinos whenever we wanted one, to the crew watching out that my shoes don’t fall from the deck into the sea.   The food was excellent, a nice variety of 4 course meals, beautifully served and the chef was gracious enough to spend time with me to explain how to make his very tasty pasticada, which was served for lunch one day.  The included excursions were very well organized and exceeded even my expectations, particularly the one in Neretva River Delta and Metkovici area.

The Captain’s dinner was beyond anybody’s expectations.  The Klapa of 3 musicians played beautifully the traditional Dalmatian songs and we all joined in singing and dancing until midnight.  I even lost my voice from singing along with them.

The Mostar trip was fantastic, driver was excellent; he recommended a very good traditional restaurant to have a lunch at, which we really enjoyed.  He was able to get us around the log jam at the border back into Croatia, with a lesser known crossing that had no waiting line.

In summary, yes, the trip was expensive, but it was well worth it.  All of our American travelers were surprised way beyond their expectations with the trip organization and the beauty of landscapes and culture in Croatia.  They have all said that they plan to come for another visit in future and bring their friends.  I think this is a great advertisement for Adriatic Travel and Croatian tourism.

Thank you for all your efforts to make this adventure a reality,

Now that we are back and unpacked I wanted you to know what an absolutely fabulous time we all had on our recent cruise. From my standpoint it was probably the best vacation ever.

I don’t think I have ever experienced a more organized and efficient operation than the Katarina Line. Your customer service is exceptional, and I said time and again how every aspect was seamless and left me, normally the organizer, with not a worry. From the time we were met at Zagreb airport until the end of our trip to Montenegro everything was perfect.

All of your staff were professional, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. I’ve never spent a better four hours with a stranger than I did with Luca driving us to Split. Yuri was wonderful as our cruise director. The crew of the Markan were all exceptional. Finally, all the city guides were very professional.

As a retired teacher for special education students, I was delighted to learn about Katarina’s efforts on behalf of students with Downs Syndrome. Please pass along my appreciation to her.

Rest assured that I will highly recommend Katarina Line to everyone here in the States. Although I’m predicting that in five years Croatia will have been “discovered” by Americans. We may have seen your beautiful country at the right time. 

Lastly, thank you for all your personal help over the last two years. You were always quick to answer questions and handle issues. If some emails from my companions caused you any stress I apologize. 

I hope that we may return to Croatia one day. Until then I wish you and the entire organization the best of success and health.