Going on a Sea Cruise: Dubrovnik

2018-09-16 by Joshua Head

Welcome to part three in this Going on a Sea Cruise series. In part three, we visit Dubrovnik, Croatia. After leaving Venice, Italy, the first port of call for Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas is Dubrovnik, Croatia. Yes, the same Dubrovnik that Game of Thrones is filmed. This city is the reason that I chose this cruise. Other itineraries went to Split instead. While I am sure that city is awesome and beautiful, I wanted to see Dubrovnik. We arrived at 10:30 a.m. and it took about thirty minutes for the ship to dock and get organized in port. We docked about four miles outside of the city and took buses into Old Town. This provided spectacular views of the city. While I was told ahead of time by friends and now agree afterwards, this is a city one can see on your own without booking an excursion. Now, after having visited, the only tour I would ever book might be a Game of Thrones tour to see filming sites.

Peering through a portal overlooking Old Town Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a walled city on the Adriatic Sea with limestone streets, historic multi-meter thick walls, and baroque buildings. The walls have protected this city for centuries and a visit is not complete without walking along them with scenes overlooking the orange-tiled roofs and deep blue Adriatic Sea. The first set of walls that enclose the city was built in the 9^th century. The 1.5-meter-thick walls were fortified with 15 square forts in the 14^th century. With the threat of the Turks in the 15^th century, the city strengthened the existing forts and added new ones so that the entire town is contained in a 2km long and up to 25-meter-high walls. The walls are up to 6 meters thick on the land side and range from 1.5 to 3 meters thick on the sea side.

We took a “Walk the walls and Old Town” excursion, however the 90˚f plus heat really made this a difficult tour. Walking the walls is not for the faint of heart or the weak in the knees. There are hundreds of steps one must descend and ascend. August is not the month for a tour- and I would say not to visit Dubrovnik during July or August as it is just too hot. Instead I would recommend seeing it on your own time and at your own pace. Regardless of month, bring water and know there are no public restrooms other than possibly at a couple of restaurants along the walls. While visiting this historic city, you should peruse the streets of the city wandering and enjoying the baroque-style buildings and maybe one of the many baroque monasteries. In the town-center, there’s a gorgeous fountain where visitors can refill their water bottles for free. While Dubrovnik does not officially use Euros, many places to accept the Euro for payment. You’ll notice that the orange tiled roofs may have differing colors- the bright orange roofs were the ones rebuilt after the heavy bombing during the war of independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990’s.