Working Cruise - Cruising Around Croatia
Cruising Around Croatia
It's Springtime in the Mediterranean. The nights are getting lighter, the mornings are becoming brighter and another working cruise lies ahead as we enter the month of March.
This is our Croatian Captains homecoming cruise with some beautiful ports of call and some I have never visited before. I love to cruise and I love to combine both my passions - travel and fitness. I work a full day at sea teaching fitness and yoga classes plus a morning and an afternoon walk around the promenade deck with the passengers. I co-host tables at lunch times and dinner times on formal nights and I socialise with the passengers at meal times most evenings. On the port days I escort the passengers on the tours ashore. I love to be busy with both the teaching of classes and socialising with the officers and passengers. I meet some amazing people and have made some 'cruising' friends that I see regularly when on the ships. I feel I have two totally different lives - one at sea and one on the land.
The Amazing Benefits of Cruise life
Other than the obvious delights of visiting several different countries and seeing beautiful sites and vistas, there is the accommodation onboard. I have been totally spoiled on this cruise. I normally have an 'Entertainers' cabin (which I love). They have huge picture windows and are located at the very forward of the ship, so sailing in and out offers the most stunning views. The downside of this is the location of the cabin when the sea is rough. You bounce a lot more and you feel every movement of the pitching and rolling. If, like me. you are not the best of sailors, it can be extremely uncomfortable. On this cruise I have been allocated a very beautiful and very large passenger cabin with a balcony. I have a big double wardrobe and I even have a small lounge area with chairs and a coffee table. I am feeling happy and very grateful.
Another big bonus is the food onboard. There is an abundance and there is nothing amiss here. There are the usual 3 meals a day plus 24 hour room service. There are also events such as 'afternoon tea', 'deck bbq's' and 'themed dinners and lunches' el-fresco style. There are cookies available at each coffee station and cakes and finger sandwiches available in the Living Room. You will never starve onboard but the temptation can be overwhelming so it is better to 'just not look!!' All drinks are included onboard ...... including the wine!!
I am so lucky as I always have a cabin steward, who cleans my cabin, turns down the bed at night and leaves a small chocolate on my pillow. I also have all my working clothes laundered for free, so not much washing to take home with me either. Finally, whilst I am away I have no expenses onboard unless I choose to make some purchases.
Teaching Onboard a Cruise Ship
I love to teach fitness and yoga onboard cruise ships and yachts. The age and wellness of passengers is a top priority when teaching. The biggest challenge onboard is the moving floor. Even if the sea is calm, the floor still moves and you need to take this into account when designing sequences and flows.
The demographic of passengers who cruise is very diverse. Recently I was lucky enough to teach on a luxury yacht. The passengers who attended the classes were very fit and able. Their preferences were circuit style classes or high intensity cardio workouts and they also preferred Vinyasa yoga flows. However on the boutique cruise ships, the passengers on longer cruises prefer chair fitness and Yin yoga flows. It's a good idea to design a wide range of classes and assess the abilities of the passengers from the first couple of classes you teach. You then plan your schedule around the assessments. Flexibility in your teaching methods and preparation with an open mind goes a long way when you are sailing across the ocean. You really want the passengers to enjoy the classes that you teach so they return each day and reap the benefits both physically and mentally.
When I first came onboard the boutique cruise ships I would teach gentle Hatha yoga flows. Although I had a busy class, I did notice that the numbers reduced as the cruise came towards the end. The flows would become slightly more intense as the days passed by and I would introduce new and slightly more advanced poses to help the passengers improve their practice. However, I introduced Yin yoga a couple of cruises ago and would alternate Hatha flows with the Yin yoga sequences. As the Hatha yoga classes decreased in numbers the Yin yoga class increased. Yin yoga is a very relaxing and meditative form of yoga that helps improve joint stability and joint mobility as well as enhancing mindfulness and focus. The poses and sequences I choose are very gentle and I encourage the use of props such as rolled towels and cushions for comfort, especially around the joints. Yin yoga has become a success onboard and I now tend to focus on Yin Sequences for each class I teach.
I have a wide variety of requests onboard from improving health and fitness to needing help to 'get up off the floor'. You can change peoples lives by giving good advice. Pointing the passengers in the right direction means they can return home and pursue interests that will help them in their every day activities. There are times that you feel you have really helped someone in their life. A lovely passenger approached me today and made me feel really happy. On a previous cruise I showed her how she could get herself up from the floor to a standing position. She worked hard each day with me until she felt confident enough to do this on her own. She can now attend her garden each day without fear and this makes me feel that I have achieved something very special for the passenger.
The Highlights of the Cruise
Melilla, Spain
The first port of call, Melilla, Spain. This was my first time visiting and I loved this place. Melilla is located on the north African coast and an autonomous city of Spain. This is where East meets West, where Christians and Muslims, Jewish and Hindu live together, side by side in peace and harmony. This is a fusion of culture where all faiths co-exist. There is a mixture of architecture from Art Nouveau to Modernist with touches of Gaudi sprinkled between lofty palms.
Split, Croatia
I was very lucky to be allocated the tour of Krka National Park. I know this would have been a popular request for most of the ship's escorts. I have wanted to see this amazing, beautiful park for many years and I was not disappointed, in fact I was quite overwhelmed at its pure beauty.
The journey was approximately an hour away from the port and the town of Split which was mostly along the highway. Once at the entrance to the park, the scenery dramatically changed. We had a short scenic drive through the National Park and the coach parked a short distance from one of the seven waterfalls.
We walked along wooden slatted pathways with streams and falls either side and lush forests and plants lining the footpaths. Once at the falls there was a picnic area with small huts selling coffee, cakes and sandwiches. We had an hour and a half to enjoy our food by the waterfall, take photos and explore the surrounding area. It was a truly magical day.
Opatija, Croatia
This was the first tender port of the cruise and I was escorting the tour to Buzet and the Aura Distillery. Buzet is an old town perched on the top of a hill with some stunning views of the surrounding countryside. This is a really old village with tiny cobbled streets, a small church at the highest point and a little square with a hotel and some coffee shops where all the locals meet for a daily natter.
The Aura Distillery is a family run firm. We were guided around the Distillery where we learnt about the art of crafting brandy, jam and confections.
We sampled three types of brandy paired with sweet jams and dark, fruit infused chocolate. We had the opportunity to purchase brandy with the sweet and savoury snacks which we all did. The brandy was pretty amazing and the chocolate was original to this Distillery only. This was a really wonderful day, enjoyed by everyone, passengers and locals alike.
Rijeka, Croatia
Today was a tour to the Capital City of Croatia, Zagreb. This was a long day as it began at 7.30am with a two and a half hour drive to the city. Again, this was along the highway but to my surprise parts of the surrounding area were covered in snow. Although a long drive, it was in fact a very pretty route past areas known as little Switzerland. We had a short stop, part-way, of 20 minutes at a service station before we continued our journey to the Capital.
This is not a huge Capital city and there were many green spaces and beautiful parks. There is a modern lower part of the city and a very old area in the upper city.
We started the tour on foot to Kaptol, a historic area in the upper town. Here we saw the local market, the largest cathedral in Croatia and St Marks Cathedral with its colourful roof of the coat of arms of the city.
We then continued to a restaurant for a 3-course meal with wine and a folkloric show. This was so much fun as the locals got everyone up to dance the traditional folk dances before we were picked up by our coach for the return journey.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Today was completely different. I went outside of Dubrovnik and visited the little seaside town of Cavtat. We had a guided walk to familiarise ourselves with the area. There was plenty to do here as there is a coastal path with views of the Adriatic Sea, a pretty little waterfront promenade lined with palm trees and plenty of coffee shops and bars.
Perched majestically on the top of the town stands the Mausoleum belonging to the Racic family. The walk to the top is steep with approximately 500 steps. The views at the very top are breathtaking, overlooking the Adriatic sea, making every single step worth taking to get here.
There is a graveyard that extends in front of the Mausoleum and the final resting place of the Cavtat inhabitants and is named the cemetery of St Roch. It feels like a place of tranquillity and calm, with incredible views of the sea and the town beneath of Cavtat.
Kotor, Montenegro
Another new port visited this cruise and this was a little 'gem'. I escorted the 'Introduction to Montenegro' tour commencing with a steep and windy climb up the Lovcen Mountain with 25 split bends. The road is very narrow, allowing for just one vehicle and many 'pull in' areas as traffic travels in both directions. Our coach driver was extremely skilful in negotiating the bends and judging what was required with oncoming traffic.
The higher we climbed the more stunning the views and we could see our ship in the port below. After each split bend the ship became smaller and smaller and the expanse of the landscape transformed into sea views, mountain vistas and vibrant greenery.
After an hour and a quarter of winding roads and magnificent scenery we stopped at Njegusi Village to taste the home made smoked ham and cheese paired with a glass of wine. The cheese was strong and delicious and I purchased some to take home with me.
The final destination of the tour was the village of Cetinje to visit the Museum of King Nikola, the first and last King of Montenegro. The museum houses a collection of artefacts and exhibits, war weapons and trophies for us to see, whilst the guide walked us through each room with many stories to share. Afterwards we had a little time to buy a coffee, souvenir shopping or take photos around the little village. I walked to Cetinje Monastery which was built in the 1700s and repeatedly bombarded and destroyed during the Ottoman attacks. The Monastery's most notable possessions are a shard of the original cross and the mummified right hand of John the Baptist
A view from the town of Monreale, Sicily
This really has been an amazing cruise. I have escorted a tour at each port and the above highlights are just a few examples of the sites and views that you can see in this part of the world. I have been quite astounded by the beauty of Croatia, Montenegro and Sicily. I have now added these destinations to an already long list of 'return' visits.
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