A swinger cruise in Europe (2) : Hvar and Kotor

KOTOR (Montenegro)

After leaving Venice at sunset, we sail off to the high sea. The Adriatic is a gentle sea, not so tough as the ocean and our cruise ship cuts smoothly through the small waves that are greeting us for a week of Epicurean pleasures. The ship itself is a really nice one. As we said before, this cruise is clearly one grade higher than the previous one we did in Florida. The ship and the services offered are more luxurious, and the participants onboard are far less numerous (500 people that is ca. 250 couples) than in 2010 (3000 people!).

A member of the staff, a beautiful French woman, explained us that this ship is not full since she can accommodate up to 700 people. We are wondering how come they were not able to fill it up completely, given the extraordinary itinerary, the scheduled program of day and night activities and the reasonable prices… We finally thought that one main reason is not the economic crisis but the fact that they did not advertise in Europe at all, on the contrary the participating travel agencies only tapped the North American swinger market which is not necessarily the best idea for a cruise starting in Europe! And eventually, we met a majority of Americans and some other nationalities from the Western hemisphere, but surprisingly almost no Europeans, we even were the only French couple onboard!

The ship is well equipped for such a lifestyle, clothing optional cruise. The upper deck hosts a nice open-air swimming pool with two large hot tubs overlooking it. Bars and restaurants are strategically located on different decks so that everyone can always find something to eat or drink at any time, without having to return to their cabin to get dressed. Unlike the previous cruise, there is no indoor Jacuzzis, which makes a big difference because these were one of the hottest places where swingers encountered each other in 2010. Here, sex is allowed neither around the swimming pool nor in the outdoor spas. But this ship also has a secret spa facility reserved for suite guests, otherwise also available for an extra daily fee, with a beautiful outdoor Jacuzzi at the bow. This is where we were standing when approaching our first port of call: Hvar, the so-called St Tropez of Croatia.

We anchored outside of the tiny harbour and therefore we needed a shuttle service (called “tender”) to go onshore. This tender service is very well organized, with a permanent service from and to the ship, starting just 15’after anchoring until late at night. We took the opportunity to set foot on Croatian ground for the 1^st time and visited the small village of Hvar, a beautiful medieval town which had been under Venetian rules for centuries, like others along this coast, including Dubrovnik.

Frankly speaking, Hvar has nothing to do with St Tropez, except perhaps the bad temper of its inhabitants. The architecture is nice, it is as sunny as the French Riviera and the surrounding Mediterranean nature looks familiar to us. But we wouldn’t definitely spend our vacation there! The few Croatians whom we encountered, including the women of the Post Office, were all unpleasant if not absolutely obnoxious. We just took a few pictures, a Croatian beer at a shady café terrace and off we went, back to our beloved ship!

Conversely, all the staff onboard were absolutely delightful, and we are talking here several dozens of different nationalities. Maybe the “global village” lifestyle onboard contributed to this, and surely the recruiting procedure for the cruise company is far more stringent than for postal services in Croatia! We repeatedly enjoyed all of our time spent onboard, be it at restaurants, bars, the swimming pool grill, the casino, or simply talking with our Filipino room attendant. We now better understand why some experienced cruisers sometimes don’t even go down the ship at ports, but prefer to stay onboard… even more if they enjoy a private luxury suite with a balcony!

We left Hvar at night with no regrets, and sailed all along the Croatian coast up to a small unknown country called Montenegro. At a given point of that long coastline, mountains seem to recede a little in the foreground and a channel opens in between, leading inland: the Bay of Kotor. As soon as the ship gets around the small Croatian fortress guarding the entrance of the Bay, we are entering the small country of Montenegro. It takes one more hour to our large cruise ship to reach the end of this natural fjord and moor in the harbour of Kotor.

Approaching this 2^nd port of call was much fun onboard, since it was around noon, happy hour for cocktails and aperitifs… Everyone was on the upper deck taking pictures, while some pool games were taking place, including a sexy fashion defile. We were enjoying our time, sipping our drinks and watching sexy girls walking in tiny beach outfits when we encountered our travel agents of the previous cruise. We knew they were onboard too, apparently more on vacation than for working! We shared our drinks with them and had a truly pleasant time.

Our mooring in Kotor could not have been better. We were docking next to the medieval city, overlooking the old city walls and churches from our 11-deck ship which looked gigantic in comparison to the 10-century old city. Overlooking the ship and the city, the surrounding mountains were even more majestic, and completed the scenery for a true pleasure of our eyes and minds.

Even though we could have considered staying onboard to enjoy such a magnificent view, we decided to go down onshore and visit the city. No tender was needed here, a footbridge from the 3^rd deck gave direct access to the pier, where a sign welcomed us to Montenegro. As a matter of fact, after the bad experience in Hvar, we found that Montenegro is a far more welcoming place!

The city of Kotor is much worth a visit. Its medieval character is well preserved, the city walls surround it entirely and even climb onto the high mountain against which the city is built. All houses and both the old Catholic cathedral and Orthodox basilica are well maintained. The city is dotted with plenty of nice shops, cafés and restaurants, and people are nice and talkative with the tourists. Even more, we learned in a wine boutique that Montenegro is an important producer of wine, a trait that is always well perceived by French people, like sort of a cultural collusion… We were able to sample it and, well, there is still a huge margin for improvement, but we were happy to discover it and learn a bit more about Montenegrin culture!

(to be followed)