Croatian cruise tourism was an enormous ecological issue up and down the coast, but the vast majority of (understandable) complaints and issues arose from Croatia’s tourist Mecca – the southernmost city of Dubrovnik. The Pearl of the Adriatic felt plagued by these giant floating cities which pollute the waters and cause enormous infrastructure issues for the entire area. The pandemic, which threw a massive spanner in the works for more or less all forms of travel, especially for leisure and tourism, saw Dubrovnik’s waters free of huge vessels for a very long time.
It seems now, however, that Croatian cruise traffic is making a decided return to not only the country’s traditionally most visited city, but all along the coast. Sibenik, quite a bit further up the coastline, included.
As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Viking Sky, a 228-metre-long Viking Cruises cruiser flying the Norwegian flag, made its way through the St. Anthony’s Canal in front of the Port of Sibenik a couple of days ago.
This ancient coastal Dalmatian city, which is steeped not only in history but also in rich culture, has now become almost a regular stop on the routes of this gigantic 400 million US dollar ship with accommodation capacities for more than 1,000 passengers who can enjoy two swimming pools, a winter garden, theatres and cinemas, and numerous shopping opporunities when on board.
In gorgeous Opatija last weekend, the luxurious Azamara Onward could be seen floating in front of the array of Austro-Hungarian architecture this Kvarner town is so famous for. The Marella Explorer 2 was also moored in the nearby Port of Rijeka, whose company announced the arrival of nineteen large ships for this summer tourist season, while the aforementioned City of Dubrovnik expects as many as 345 cruise ship arrivals this season, bringing with them more than half a million passengers.
For more on Croatian cruise traffic and tourism, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.
