2025 Croatia Cruise

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

2025 Fei and Tony’s Croatia Cruise

We were looking for a cruise to visit Croatia (particularly Korčula) and found a nice Azamara Cruise “10 nights Croatia Intensive Voyage” from July 12 to 22, 2025 covering most of the beautiful seaside towns, so we booked it for July 2025. Fei told Mimi about this cruise and Mimi decided to join us. The cruise itinerary was as the following:

Saturday, July 12, 2025 - Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Sunday, July 13, 2025 - At Sea

Monday, July 14, 2025 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Tuesday, July 15, 2025 - Kotor, Montenegro

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - Korčula, Croatia

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - Split, Croatia

Friday, July 18, 2025 - Sibenik, Croatia

Saturday, July 19, 2025        - Zadar, Croatia
Sunday, July 20, 2025         - Pula, Croatia
Monday, July 21, 2025        - Venice (Fusina), Italy

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 - Venice (Fusina), Italy, (Disembark)

The cruise map was as the following:

Croatia has many beautiful old towns with city walls, breathtaking sceneries and picturesque Adriatic Sea.

On this cruise, we visited six UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

Old City of Dubrovnik
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
Historic city of Trogir
Šibenik Cathedral of St James
The city of Venice and its lagoon

And two UNESCO World Heritage Tentative Sites

The historic town of Korčula
Zadar - Episcopal complex

July 12, 2025 - Flew from Houston to Athens

We flew from Houston to Atlanta and then to Athens. At Atlanta airport, we were able to utilize our Chase Reserve lounge program to rest a little bit. The flight to Athens was long but non-eventful. When we got to Athens airport, we already communicated with our Welcome Pickups driver and it was a pleasant experience of using their service first time. The assigned driver knew exactly how to find the Azamara Pursuit cruise ship in Piraeus Port without any problem.

The embarking process of Azamara was very smooth. After checked-in, we were able to enjoy lunch at the Windows Cafe. The lunch selections were very good. A lot of fruits which we enjoyed very much throughout the entire cruise. The Pursuit has about 700 customers which is smaller comparing to all Ocean cruises we had previously. The non-crowd feeling was very nice and cozy to us. We had a wonderful lunch and our room was ready for us before we finished our lunch. It was a nice room with very comfortable settings. We took a nap prior to the safety drills.

We met with Mimi and her friend Olive for dinner in the Discoveries Restaurant at 6pm. We learned that Azamara has escargots every night which is much better than all cruises we had previously. Of course, it was the must ordered item for Tony each time we were in Discoveries Restaurant which is their only formal dinner room.

Escargots Every Night

Delicious Salmon Main Course

At 9pm, they had a Welcome Aboard Variety Show in the Cabaret. We liked it already on our first day onboard.

July 13, 2025 - At Sea

This was the only At Sea day on this 10 nights cruise. After the long flight from Houston, this At Sea day was very welcomed. We did not have to set alarm and just waked up when we got enough sleep. After that we enjoyed our first breakfast in the Windows Cafe. The selections were very good. We chose to have a lot of fruits and an omelette. It was delicious. After all three meals (lunch, dinner and breakfast), we already felt that the food on Azamara is better than most of our previous cruises.

After breakfast, we went on to explore the ship Pursuit. We found more food selections on different floors, and some nice and quiet places such as the Living Room, the Den, and the Drawing Room etc. Their shopping area is not very big, however Fei was able to find a nice crossbody bag to purchase on the first day.

The Pool Deck of Azamara Pursuit

The Grant Piano in the Drawing Room

The Drawing Room

The Living Room on Pursuit

We also found the Gym area and went to workout in the afternoon. At dinner time, we enjoyed the escargot again and some other delicious dishes. Tony decided that gelato will be the desert for the whole cruise. Luckily, they have variety of flavors to choose from.

Dinner in the Discoveries Restaurant

The Appetizer with Jumbo Shrimps

At 9pm, there was a Captain’s Welcome Toast and followed by a Ventriloquist show. At 10pm, there is a band from Indonesia called "Starlight" playing oldies that you can dance. We went up there and did some dancing. It was a relaxing and enjoyable At Sea day.

July 14, 2025 - Dubrovnik, Coratia

Originally, our first port of call was Kotor, Montenegro. However, the captain told us that they switched the Kotor with Dubrovnik for better docking position in Kotor. Therefore, our first port of call was Dubrovnik.

We were told by the captain that the first half hour prior to entering Dubrovnik where the scenery is very pretty. He advised us to get up early to see it. I got up at 7am thinking to go up to deck #9 to see the beautiful scenery. However, when I got to deck #9, the ship already docked and I missed it by half an hour.

Scenery of the Dubrovnik Harbor

We have been Dubrovnik twice before, we still like it. There was a shuttle bus arranged by Azamara to take us from port to the center of the Old town, right next to the main entrance Pile Gate. After we got in to the old town, we immediately went to the City Walls. We did it in 2019 and considered this is the best part of the Old Town. When you walk on the City Walls, you can enjoy the best views of Dubrovnik’s tile-roof building and the blue sea (Adriatic Sea). These ancient fortifications were built and rebuilt in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries as the threat of Turkish invaders grew.

In Front of the Pile Gate

Main Street of Dubrovnik - The Stradun

View of the Stradun from top of City Walls

View of Fort Lawrence Fortress from Top of City Walls

View of Sri Hill from Top of City Walls

View of Fort Lawrence Fortress from Top of City Walls

On Top of City Walls

View of Lokrum Island from Top of City Walls

Mimi and Olive walked half of the wall, Fei and Tony completed the whole wall. The sceneries on top of the wall were still impressive as we experienced in 2019. Many photos were taken again. The only thing that different between 2025 and 2019 was the entrance ticket price increased from less than 20 euros in 2019 to 40 euros in 2025.

View of Dubrovnik Old Port from Top of City Walls

View of Clock Tower from Top of City Walls

View of Old Town from Top of City Walls

After the City Walls, Fei and Tony went to visit Fort Lovrijenac (Fort Lawrence Fortress) again. From there, we had a lot more photos taken to show the Dubrovnik’s City Walls. It was surprised to learn that the City Walls’ entrance ticket covers the entrance fee to Fort Lawrence Fortress too. So we saved few euros.

Fort Lawrence Fortress in the Background

On the Way to Fort Lawrence Fortress

View of City Walls from Fort Lawrence Fortress

Then, we walked to Dubrovnik’s Cable Car station and took the cable car to the top of the Srd Hill. It has breathtaking views of the Old City of Dubrovnik, the crystal clear Adriatic Sea and numerous surrounding islands.

View of Dubrovnik from Top of Sod Hill

View of Old Port from Top of Sod Hill

Using video is the only way to show the beautiful view of the Dubrovnik from the top of Sri Hill.

After visiting Srd Hill, we wandered into the old town, did some shopping, then we took the shuttle back to the ship.

We had dinner in Discoveries restaurant again. At 9pm, we went to Cabaret to enjoy daily show.

July 15, 2025 - Kotor, Montenegro

Our ship docked right next to the main entrance of Kotor Old Town which is extremely convenience for us to walk to the Old Town. We got to Old Town and wondeing a little bit. The Old Town is an UNESCO World Heritage site. Since we did see the Old Town in 2019, so we went up to the wall from North (River) Gate and walked along the wall to view the Old Town and the beautiful Baka Bay.

Kotor Old Town

The Center of Kotor Town

Saint Tryphon's Cathedral

Alley in the Kotor Old Town

View of Baka Bay from the Top of Kotor City Walls

View of Pursuit from the Top of Kotor City Walls

Later, we went back to Pursuit for lunch and then we went out again trying to hike up the Fortress of San Giovanni. The 1355 steps to the top of the fortress takes one past a 15th-century church, ruins of military buildings, It is straight up to the top with non-stopping steps. It was a little bit tough for Tony. However, he managed to got up half way and see the beautiful Baka Bay. Fei could continue to the top, however, she accommodated Tony and stopped at half way with him.

View of Baka Bay on Fortress of San Giovanni Trail

Then we went back to Pursuit, took a much needed shower, then went up for more refreshments in the Patio.

At 9pm, we enjoyed the “Oh, What A Night” show.

July 16, 2025 - Korčula, Croatia

Korčula is Tony’s favorite Croatia town and it was the main reason for coming to this cruise. One of the other goals was to buy a Marco Polo compass which Tony learned from other cruise goers in 2019, but he did not had a chance to buy it then.

The old city is encircled by walls, with streets laid out in a herringbone pattern that promotes airflow while shielding against strong winds during winter. It was noted by our tour guide as the fish bone city during our 2019 visit.

We took the tender to the city. After we got to the main street in the center, we found the Marco Polo Centre (Marco Polo Birth House) and found a nearby Marco Polo Official Store. Tony got his wish (since 2019) and brought an India made Marco Polo Compass with Sundial.

Revelin Tower and Land Gate

Then we just wandered around all streets for shopping. Since this is Tony’s favorite town, he was the one did most of the shopping.

Alley of Korcula

When we got to the end of the main street and just walked along the Šetalište Petra Kanavelića (north sea side street) to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We took a lot of photos along the way. We also climbed up to the top of Korčula Town Gate to view the scenery.

View of Adriatic Sea from North Sea Side Street

View of Adriatic Sea from Top of Revelin Tower

View of Korcula from Top of Revelin Tower

At this time, Mimi and Olive went back to ship and Fei and Tony stayed to enjoy more of Korčula. We visited the Marco Polo Center and went up to the top of the center for more views of the town and the Adriatic Sea. Then we walked along the Obala dr. Franje Tuđmana (south sea side street) for more photo opportunities.

View of Adriatic Sea from South Sea Side Street

Marco Polo Center

Marco Polo Center Tower

On top of Marco Polo Center Tower

After dinner in the Discoveries Restaurant, we went to enjoy the show Imagine in the Cabaret.