May 4, 2021 - The Dubrovnik Port Authority has announced that the Dubrovnik cruise ship season will open on June 11. 

Important news for Dubrovnik came at the start of the week as the Dubrovnik Port Authority confirmed the first major cruise ship to visit Dubrovnik this year will be the MSC Orchestra on the 11th of June, as reported by Dubrovacki Vjesnik.

Question of Sustainability and Pandemic Woes

Cruise ships bring in well over half a million tourists each year to Dubrovnik, making it one of the busiest cruise ship ports of the Mediterranean. With the city's infrastructure strained under the pressure of all the guests visiting during a typical summer season, many have raised a question of whether these numbers are sustainable. With cruise ship guests having very limited time during which to visit the city, the financial effect of their visits is a thing of controversy in the „Pearl of the Adriatic“. 

The past 12 months have been anything but typical. This is very true for Dubrovnik’s tourism sector as well. The driving force of Dubrovnik’s economy has ground to a halt during 2020 and the voices screaming for sustainability are very much silent at the beginning of another extremely uncertain tourism season. With this in mind, it is easy to see why the news about the arrival of MSC ship is hailed almost universally as a good thing.

Beginning of Dubrovnik’s Bounce Back?

After the initial arrival on June 11th, there are 35 more visits to Dubrovnik planned by MSC in the 2021 season by the company’s ships MSC Orchestra and MSC Splendida. According to the official website, MSC Orchestra has a maximum capacity of 3013 passengers, while MSC Splendida can hold an impressive 4363 passengers. Even if the maximum capacity is reduced due to COVID-related measures, it is clear these numbers look very promising for a destination hit by a pandemic drop in revenue more severely than the rest of the Croatian coast. 

According to the General Manager of Dubrovnik’s Port Authority Blaz Pezo, there are several other cruise companies that will be confirming their Dubrovnik arrivals very soon. Many in the tourism industry are crossing their fingers in hope of seeing the sector bounce back during the summer. At the same time, some Dubrovnik locals and guests were happy with clear roads and city streets free of excessive crowds last summer. 

Maybe this year the city will get close to the perfect balance of tourists bringing in revenue and people being able to enjoy the city. 

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March the 5th, 2021 - Dubrovnik is very well known (both in a positive and a negative sense) for its cruise ships, and with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic still holding a firm grasp on tourism, just where do things stand? It seems that the Dubrovnik cruiser trends are improving, be that good or bad.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, after the government lifted a previously introduced ban on large cruisers entering Croatian ports a few days ago, which was entered into force last year to fight the coronavirus pandemic, conditions were created for preparing for a tourist season that could be significantly better than last year for Dubrovnik, Croatia's main cruise destination.

According to the announcements of global cruise companies, Dubrovnik could generate 80 percent more cruise traffic throughout the year 2021 than it managed last year, or 60 percent of the pre-pandemic traffic seen back in 2019, but only if the epidemiological situation stabilises and the conditions for crossing European Union (EU) borders are properly defined as soon as possible.

In addition to the above, protocols for dealing with various possible scenarios should be introduced as soon as possible, from how to act in the case of an infected passenger onwards. Dubrovnik cruiser trends for this summer are hanging on many factors being properly accounted for, both at the national and at the European Union level.

The City of Dubrovnik has therefore prepared a draft protocol that Mayor Mato Frankovic sent to the Croatian Government on Wednesday, modelled on what both Greece and Cyprus boast, as these are currently the European countries most active in their work and efforts to see tourism make a comeback along their shores in summer 2021.

"We´re monitoring what our competitors are doing across the rest of the Mediterranean and we have used their solutions to compile our own protocols for action, and we expect to have the quick support of the Government, which responded to our request to define the situation with cruisers. We met several times with representatives of the World Association of Cruising Companies (CLIA) and agreed and defined everything, which was very important to do on time. That´s why we insisted, along with the Government, on the conclusion of a proper decision as soon as possible allowing large ships to enter. It is very important that shipping companies know their destinations on time, so that they can start selling tickets,¨ explained Frankovic when discussing 2021´s potential Dubrovnik cruiser trends.

Although there are a lot of inquiries when it comes to Dubrovnik cruiser trends for 2021, there is still work to be done to reach the maximum potential of the summer tourist season, according to the mayor, who mentioned the current bad epidemiological situation in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, which has already jeopardised some previously planned programmes.

“We should always keep in mind that Dubrovnik is just one of the destinations on any given cruise route and that everything will depend on the epidemiological situation. Thus, for example, the idea of ​​cooperation with American Viking failed, due to the bad epidemiological situation in the county. In addition, some companies have launched programmes under some bilateral agreements between countries. For example, Royal Carribean has launched programmes for Greece, but only for guests from Israel, and only vaccinated ones,¨ Mato Frankovic pointed out.

Sales are beginning despite all uncertainties...

Royal Caribbean International has announced that it will launch a voyage from Israel in May, with a combination of a three- to seven-night cruise programme on the Greek islands and then on to Cyprus. Ticket sales start on March the 9th, and the cruises themselves will begin departing as of the month of May.

The programme is the result of a bilateral agreement to introduce the controversial ¨Covid passports¨ between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, and a mitigating circumstance is the high vaccination coverage of Israeli residents. On their new ship "Odyssey of the Sea", for which this is the premiere voyage, everyone over the age of sixteen will have to have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

In fact, as discriminatory as the request for vaccination of tourists may seem and most do not officially advocate it, it seems that most cruise companies will ask their guests to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus at the time of boarding, to avoid "hostage crises" and additional related health complications.

Last week, the same move was announced by luxury travel company Crystal, which found when undertaking market research that this would be one of the criteria for their customers to choose a cruise. Prior to them, back in January, the British cruise company announced that it would ask all guests to be vaccinated two weeks before boarding.

The same criteria are being introduced by U.S. river cruisers, after their potential guests also said they would feel safer with fellow travellers who have been vaccinated against the virus. Frankovic pointed out that this actually suits the destinations that the ships are heading to.

"It will actually be convenient for us as destinations, and it will facilitate all of the needed protocols. For guests who have not had the vaccination, we will introduce a protocol for them to visit the city in small groups, as well as all institutions, museums, walls, for which there will be no need for vaccinated guests. There will certainly not be opportunities for cruise guests to tour the city individually like they did before,¨ he explained.

Frankovic is more than aware that the level of vaccination against the novel coronavirus in the destinations these enormous vessels head to is also of paramount importance. That is why the people of Dubrovnik are very active in getting everyone vaccinated as soon as possible, in order to welcome the summer tourist season as safely as possible.

So far, about 4,000 people have been vaccinated in Croatia´s southernmost city and tourist Mecca, a mass vaccination of about 1,000 citizens is planned for Monday, and by June, the majority of Dubrovnik´s residents plan to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, according to Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic, who still hopes Dubrovnik cruiser trends will manage to rescue some of this year´s tourist season down in southern Dalmatia.

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August 10, 2020 - Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic has asked the National Civil Protection Headquarters to change the rule banning the entry of ships with more than two hundred passengers into Croatian ports.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that this is because the global cruise line MSC did not include Dubrovnik in its cruise program.

Namely, representatives of the company have previously expressed interest in including Dubrovnik in the travel program, but the limiting factor for the arrival of larger ships on cruises to Dubrovnik is the rule, according to which ships with more than 200 passengers cannot enter Croatian ports at the moment.

Frankovic briefed Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Civil Protection Headquarters Davor Bozinovic and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic on this very topic.

Following Bozinovic's instructions, Frankovic submitted to the County Institute of Public Health detailed procedures introduced by the MSC for its ships, as well as procedures to be carried out by the Dubrovnik Port Authority and the City of Dubrovnik.

"In the coming days, we expect an official statement from the Institute to the Civil Protection Headquarters and we are convinced that with the approved procedures, ships on cruise trips will be allowed to enter Croatian ports," said Mayor Frankovic.

The prescribed procedures are a challenge for both companies and Port Authorities and the cities where cruise companies enter, but they provide the highest level of health care, and the possibility of spreading the COVID-19 infection is reduced to a minimum, the Dubrovnik City Administration said in a statement.

MSC is one of the world's largest cruise companies and a market leader in Europe.

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Dubrovnik is still swamped with cruise ships, and it seems that Croatia's southernmost city is still doing better, or perhaps better to say much worse, than all Croatian ports across the country combined when it comes to the arrival of these harmful floating cities.

As Morski writes on the 10th of October, 2019, the cruise season is not over yet, and in the Port of Dubrovnik, when looking at the number of cruise ships and the number of passengers brought in by them, remains the ''top'' cruise port in the entire Croatian Adriatic.

Specifically, in the first eight months of 2019, 466 cruises made by foreign vessels on the Croatian Adriatic were realised, which is fifteen more than in the same period back in 2018. By early September, foreign cruisers had brought 733,000 passengers to the Croatian coast, up by seven percent when compared to the first eight months of last year.

The City of Dubrovnik remains the most visited cruise destination in the Croatian Adriatic, with 339 cruise ship arrivals in the first eight months of this year. Split, on the other hand, is only half as interesting as Dubrovnik when it comes to cruise ships.

In the first eight months of 2019, Split was visited by 175 cruisers, while Zadar, whose newly constructed Gaženica passenger terminal gave a concession to the consortium that was supposed to build a passenger terminal in the Port of Dubrovnik, was only visited by 77 cruisers. Hvar was visited by 71, Korčula by 66, and Šibenik by 46 cruisers, Dubrovnikpress reports.

Although it is already October, the cruise season in Dubrovnik isn't waning, so looking right to the end of this month, there are almost no days when there will not be a few cruisers arriving in the popular southern Croatian city's port.

In somewhat smaller numbers, cruise ships will continue to sail during November and December, and the last major cruise ship - Costa Deliziosa, will sail on December the 28th. When it comes to the situation with cruisers in 2020, their interest in Dubrovnik is expected to equal that of this year.

From next season onward, a shuttle will transport cruise ship passengers from the cruiser from which they've disembarked to the city's UNESCO historic core, more specifically to Pile by Libertas city buses, which have received a green light from the City Council for operational leasing for shuttle transportation. More buses will also be procured for this purpose.

As we recently reported, from January the 1st, 2021, cruisers sailing to Dubrovnik will pay a tourist tax depending on their respective passenger capacities. Based on a City Council decision, this fee ranges from 2,000 kuna for ships with a capacity of up to 200 passengers, while the maximum fee of 40,000 kuna will need to be paid by cruisers with a capacity of 3,001 passengers or more.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow or check out Dubrovnik in a Page for all you need to know about the Pearl of the Adriatic.

September 20, 2019 - After limiting the number of cruise ships to two per day, Dubrovnik will introduce a new measure to keep the old town from being overrun by cruise ship tourists.

HRTurizam reports that at the end of last year, Dubrovnik made a step in the right direction when they reduced the overburden of cruise ship tourists to the city center. Namely, in agreement with the cruise companies, they concluded that a maximum of two cruise ships would arrive daily in the most desirable cruise destination in the Mediterranean, which would bring a maximum of 5000 visitors to the old town. 

Thus, from Monday to Sunday, a maximum of two cruisers sail to Dubrovnik per day. This year, the entrance to the city was blocked only once, as a result of the MSC Sinfonia docking in Gruz earlier than foreseen by the established schedule. The MSC responded in a statement, saying that the failure occurred as a result of unfortunate and unplanned circumstances. 

"The most unfavorable weather conditions at sea caused Sinfonia to miss Mykonos from Venice and went directly to Dubrovnik, forcing the ship to arrive early,” emphasized MSC Cruises, using the excuse that this event was an exception caused by external factors.

The City of Dubrovnik recently harmonized the rules for the 2020 season with the shipowners and CLIA representatives, which will include further improvements in the number of guests who visit the old town at the same time, to ensure the highest level of guest service and citizen satisfaction.

One measure is the introduction of cruise ship transportation to Pile and back by low-floor articulated buses. The shuttle service will be operated by JGP Libertas, and will significantly reduce congestion on city roads. According to the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mate Frankovic, the said measures will establish full control and organization of docking cruise ships, all to achieve the highest level of service provided.

Furthermore, at the initiative of the City of Dubrovnik, the Ministry of Tourism introduced a sojourn tax for cruise ships.

Its introduction will be decided by the destinations, i.e., local self-government units, and will be implemented from the beginning of 2021. Thus, Dubrovnik will introduce a sojourn tax per boat from 2021, although the first thought was that a sojourn tax would be charged for each guest on the cruiser.

“We are pleased that, in cooperation with the Association of Cities, we succeeded in inserting in the law the possibility to collect a tax from one-day guests and the Ministry accepted. However, it was agreed that the payment would work per boat, and talking to our CLIA partners, they agreed that it was the best model,” pointed out Mate Frankovic.

The plan to introduce cruise ship fees was presented to the new President of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Adam Goldstein, and his associates at a working meeting in Berlin during the ITB fair in early March. 

"They expressed complete understanding for the introduction of the fee and thanked us for making them aware of the intention promptly. I want to emphasize that CLIA are our true partners in our project 'Respect the City' because they, like us in the city administration, want the best destination experience for their guests, that is, we want satisfied guests regardless of how they arrive, but also satisfied citizens. Only through balance and through cooperation can we achieve this,” said Frankovic.

Finally, Frankovic pointed out that the extra revenue from the cruise ship tax will be spent on improving the city's utility infrastructure. 

"The funds will be used to invest in the maintenance of roads and transport/communal infrastructure to increase the overall utility standard whose development has unfortunately not followed the development of tourism in the last decades, and it is up to this city government to change it."

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August 23, 2019 - Scenes from Gruž port in Dubrovnik on Thursday suggest anything but an improvement in buckling down on the city's cruise ship tourism.

On July 8, 2019, TCN published the results of the "Transportation and Environment" Association, which, along with the support of numerous similar environmental foundations, including the European Commission (EC), conducted extensive research on air pollution in European destinations in ports which accept cruise ships in 2017. The study revealed alarming stats about the pollution levels in Croatia's top destination - Dubrrovnik.

Namely, 27,173 vehicles were registered in Dubrovnik in 2017. During that time, in the port of Gruž, forty such massive vessels sailed in while taking round trips, spending a total of 2,791 hours moored. Thus, 2,523 kilograms of contaminated particles were discharged into Dubrovnik's air.

During that same time, the aforementioned 27,173 vehicles registered in the Dubrovnik area released 11,561 kilograms of exhaust gases into the air. Translated into basic percentages: 20.1 percent of the air pollution in Dubrovnik comes directly from cruise ships.

When considering the release of harmful compounds such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides, the data for Dubrovnik is as follows: During those 2,791 hours of cruise ships being moored in Gruž, cruise ships released a massive 140,259 kilograms of nitrogen oxide into the air, while 27,173 registered vehicles during that same year released 100,174 kilograms of the same harmful compound.

Furthermore, during their stay, cruise ships released 6,344 kilograms of sulfur oxide into Dubrovnik's air, and passenger cars released 331 kilograms of the same compound during that time.

Exactly one month later, on August 8, 2019, TCN reported the following cruise ship statistics according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics:

In the first six months of 2019, 272 journeys of foreign vessels on cruise were realised in Croatia.

In the period from January to June 2019, there were 54 foreign vessels on cruise that arrived in Croatian seaports, which realised 272 journeys. There were 409 thousand passengers on board who stayed for 554 days in Croatia.

The highest number of cruises was realised by vessels under the flags of Malta (72 cruises) and Italy (45 cruises), while the highest number of passengers on board the arrived vessels were under the flags of Italy (108 thousand passengers) and Panama (100 thousand passengers).
 
Out of a total of 272 journeys of foreign vessels on cruise, the majority was realised in the County of Dubrovnik-Neretva (60.3%) and the County of Split-Dalmatia (25.3%), which makes up the total of 85.6%. The remaining 14.4% of journeys were realised in the following counties: Zadar (5.9%), Istria (4.8%), Primorje-Gorski kotar (2.6%) and Šibenik-Knin (1.1%). 

The most visited seaport was the seaport of Dubrovnik, followed by the seaports of Split and Zadar
 
The majority of visits of foreign vessels on cruise were realised in the seaport of Dubrovnik (195 visits), followed by the seaports of Split (104 visits) and Zadar (45 visits). 

In the period from January to June 2019, the number of journeys of foreign vessels on cruise increased by 10.6% and the total number of sojourns by 6.1%, as compared to the same period of 2018. In the aforementioned period of 2019, the number of passengers on board increased by 14.8%, as compared to the same period of 2018.

Just yesterday, on August 22, 2019, Dalmacija Danas published a photo that perfectly presents the shocking reality of cruise ship tourism in Dubrovnik today. 

You can have a look for yourself below. 

Photo by Boris Bašić 

”Contracts with cruise companies are signed for next year, so that throughout the whole week, from Monday to Sunday, we will have a maximum of two cruisers a day. Sometimes there will be only one, sometimes two will arrive at one or one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. We aspired to that, and now we have achieved it,” the mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, said last year.

However, Thursday’s view of Gruž reveals an entirely different reality; one where there were twice as many cruisers as promised at the port.

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