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Ship Spotting in the Adriatic November 2005
MV DALMACIJA arriving at Pula 2005. Photo courtesy Cruise Adriatic.
By Peter Knego
Ship Spotting in the Adriatic
November 2, 2005: Croatia Cruise Line's approximately 6,000 gt 1965-built MV DALMACIJA set sail on her final cruise of the season on Saturday, October 29. Peter Knego reports the following from the midpoint of his journey through the Adriatic and Ionian seas to some of the most scenic and historic ports in the region:
We arrived at MV DALMACIJA after a long day crossing from Genoa on a very overcrowded train due to the All Saints holiday weekenders escaping the middle regions of Italy. Our trim little ship was berthed at the San Basilio terminal on the Grand Canal, about a mile or so from the largeÊdepot where the massive GRAND PRINCESS and MSC OPERA were tied up.
The DALMACIJA is a compact ocean liner with lovely teak decks, wide glass enclosed promenades on either side, and, similar to the IVAN FRANKO ships (as built), a glass enclosed pool adjoining a lounge on the stern. She even has REAL wooden deck chairs! Our cabin (category 5) is quite large for a ship of her size with plenty of storage space and private facilities.
The ship was extensively refurbished in 2000, so many of her original features have been updated. Still, there are some lovely traces of her original decor tastefully mixed in with the warm, modern appointments of her refit. The Lido Bar, which adjoins the enclosed pool,Êis a double deck room with a curved staircase. This lounge is similar in concept to those of theÊfirstÊISLAND and PACIFIC PRINCESSes as well as those of her slightly larger semi-sisterships (also built in Yugoslavia), the ANNA NERY (now the SALAMIS GLORY)Êand ROSA DA FONSECA.
The dining room has large picture windows and a large metallic relief panel depicting former Yugoslav monuments. The spacious showroom was significantly expanded and modernized, but has a few more of these lovely 1960s decorations and some very "midcentury" light fixtures. The most striking decoration is a large multicolored abstract enamel on metal panel in the forward stairtower.
There are three meals a day, with breakfast and lunch served buffet style. Dinner is full service and our waiter, Niscka, is incredibly kind and dilligent. A highlight of dinners is the live pianist playing everything fromÊMozart to Andrew Lloyd Weber.
The ship is like stepping back in time to the good old days of cruising on vessels like STEFAN BATORY, Chandris' THE VICTORIA, and the similarly proportioned STELLA OCEANIS. This is not a cruise for the megaship lovers who need spas, atria, and verandas, but when we watch behemoths like GRAND PRINCESS arrive an hour after and sail and hour earlier than us with ten timesÊour passenger complement, we are very happy to be on the little DALMACIJA.
Entertainment is informal with a skilled trio playing music in the ballroom or the crew performing traditional folk songs quite magnificently. For more info on the ship, go to www.cruiseadriatic.com.
We left Venice at 7:00 PM, allowing a lovely view of the sparkling new MSC OPERA as she motored past in the twilight. Our passage through the Grand Canal and out to sea was narrated byÊthe ship'sÊpleasant Austrian hostess who has mastered no less than four languages. Our passenger make up is surprisingly comprised of Americans (many travel agents from Brendan Tours), Italians, Croatians, and some Germans.
In Korcula the following day, the little DALMACIJA was able berth directly alongside the old town.
Yesterday, in Dubrovnik, we were berthed in the new harbor. The GRAND PRINCESS followed us in and later in the day, the MSC ARMONIA anchored off the walled city, tendering her passengers in to the old harbor.
Today, in Corfu, it is shiplovers' paradise. We were the last to arrive and will be the last to depart. Louis Cruise Lines magnificent SS AUSONIA is berthed near the city center right next to the MSC ARMONIA. From AUSONIA to ARMONIA, you could not have two more different vessels with an Italian pedigree, although AUSONIA is now the pride of the Cypriot fleet. COSTA MEDITERRANEA and GRAND PRINCESS are at the regular passenger terminal dwarfing our compact but far more sleek DALMACIJA.
Tomorrow, we visit Kotor, then Split on the following day. After that, it is a quick call to DALMACIJA's "home" port of Pula, where she was built forty years ago, then Venice where we overnight before disembarking. DALMACIJA will then dead head for Pula where she will lay up for the winter, but will thankfully return for the 2006 season.
November 3, 2005: I am sitting in the internet cafe overlooking the passenger piers of Split, Croatia, on a brilliant, sunny day. Currently in port are the rakish MV DALMACIJA and the handsome ferries DUBROVNIK, ISTRA, and ANCONA. ANCONA is a glorious remnant of Scandinavian 1960s ferry design. Unfortunately, the authorities here are not sympathetic to my requests to visit the ship. Strangely, in this maritime nation where nearly eveyone has work to do with the sea, the history and heritage of these classic ships is not a priority. Maybe one day as economic conditions continue to improve, it will be.
Our evening in Corfu last Tuesday provided us with the chance to document the departures of MSC ARMONIA and GRAND PRINCESS from the base of the new fortress. As we walked toward the port, we noticed a purplish stream of smoke from AUSONIA's funnel against the night sky, indicating she was about to steam away from her berth at the ferry terminal. We found a spot next to some fishermen on an old jetty to watch her majestically pivot and turn into the main channel, looking every bit (save for Adriatica's lion and some superstructure additions) the Italy's greyhound of 1957. Hopefully her Adriatic program is doing well so that she can return next year.
The following morning, yesterday, we awoke to drizzle and gray skies as we entered the Kotor fjord. It was like a slice of Norway, save for the red tiled rooftops in the villages along the embankment. When we passed one of the villages, DALMACIJA blew her horn several times to people waving sheets and towels of greeting from the windows of their stone houses. Several of our waiters did the same from the promenades of our ship. The echoes reverberated several times, creating a wonderful, bellowing cacophony as each new blast was sounded. When we berthed at Kotor, fog had wrapped itself around the cliffs, revealing portions of the ancient fortress above the city. We had enough time to climb up to an old church before returning to the ship to embark on our full day excursion up the Austrian built switchbacks some 3,000 feet and into the pristine valleys for a tour of the countryside and one of the palaces before a nightime drive along th! e Montenegran riviera brought us back to DALMACIJA. Local folkloric performers entertained us with song and dance in the main lounge before dinner.
Today, theÊsun beckons for us to explore Split in its Roman and Medieval finery...
November 4, 2005: Our wonderful waiter, Niksa Gregov, shared some stories about his native Split today. He has spent some 37 years with the ships of Jadrolinija, 35 on and off on DALMACIJA. He recalls the 1960s when many of the classic, but dimunitive steamers served the Dalmatian coast. He also was able to visit the Brogradiliste shipyard when ROSA DA FONSECA and several submarines were under construction.
Our hostess, Edith Bruckmiller-Siekerer, has been with DALMACIJA for two years and came over from MSC and several years on MONTEREY, RHAPSODY, and MELODY, which explains why she speaks so many languages fluently.
Captain Miho Trojanovic is a very friendly man and we look forward to hearing of his maritime adventures at dinner tonight. He is from Dubrovnik, where my father was born.
After wandering through the remnants of Diocletians Palace, we are now back at an internet cafe overlooking the opposite side of the harbor with another spectacular view of the port, the old city, and the forested stone mountains beyond. The little ISTRA just sailed past, her profile resembling NCLs first SUNWARD.ÊÊSoon, we must head back to DALMACIJA...
November 5: Last night's gala dinner was excellent, beginning with caviar and ending with Baked Alaska. Captain Toranovich and the delightful Liliane Charitos from Corfu-based Charitos TravelÊkept us well entertained in both English and Greek. The seas have been mercifully calm and it was hard to tell that the ship was no longer tied up at Split.
We awoke this morning in the industrial part of the port of Pula. MV DALMACIJA has tied up alongside a yacht repair yard where a former Dutch SEAWOLFE class tug beaconed, now enjoying a more leisurely life as a luxury yacht. I hope to get close enough to get her name and that of a very handsome, largeÊwhite yacht that appears to be at least fifty years old. She is similar in many respects to Tito's formerÊyacht, which isÊlaid up near Trieste. Nicksa pointed out the shipyard across the harbor where DALAMCIJA and her sister (now the Portuguese ARION) were built. AÊshuttle brought us into the city center, allowing ample time to explore the Roman Arena and check in one final time from this voyage, which ends tonight in Venice.
DALMACIJA sails at 1:30 PM, giving us six short hours in the now gray and gloomy AdriaticÊto enjoy her Croatian charms. A night tour of Venice will follow our arrival, and then we have short night to sleep before the ship departs in the AM for Pula and her winter lay up.
End
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