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November 27th, 2009
Dubrovnik has become a major port of call for Mediterranean cruise ships, expecting to receive about 845,000 passengers on 580 cruisers. It’s been named as the 10th most frequented harbour in the world.
That means that on some days, there are nearly 10,000 passengers crowding into the narrow streets and cozy squares and shuffling along Dubrovnik’s famous walls. Today’s Toronto Star has a vivid description of what it’s like to be a cruise passenger in Dubrovnik during the high season. The photograph tells the whole story and it’s not pretty.
Merchants Demand Euro as Legal Tender
Of course Dubrovnik needs tourism in order to survive so they can’t complain. Or can they? This week a group of Dubrovnik’s merchants asked that Dubrovnik switch to the euro as a form of currency rather than the kuna. It seems that cruise passengers who arrive on Sunday find no place open to change their money and can’t spend anything! The Croatian National Bank quickly shot down that idea as a non-starter.
How to Beat the Crowds
Visiting Dubrovnik amid throngs of tourists is not a pleasant experience, as I can attest. For independent travellers who have more flexibility in designing their schedules there is a solution to this problem. The Dubrovnik Port Authority publishes a list of cruise ship arrivals on their website far many months in advance. For your convenience, I have compiled the latest cruise ship schedules here, ready for download. The cruiser names, number of passengers, arrival times and locations is helpfully detailed. They have even colour-coded especially busy days. I highly recommend checking the cruise ship schedule before you plan your trip to Dubrovnik. And if all else fails and you simply must be there on a crowded day, bear in mind that the crowds do thin out around lunch time when the passengers head back to the mother ship.
See more on visiting Dubrovnik.
Cruiser in Dubrovnik
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