One in five on Unforgettable Croatia luxury small cruises are Aussies

Unforgettable Croatia says Australia is now one of its fastest growing markets with bookings up almost 30 per cent year-on-year with Aussies making up one in five guests onboard its luxury small ship cruises.

With the addition of new build 36-guest MS Aretis, which will offer 19 seven-night departures from Dubrovnik to Split and vice versa from June 7 to October 11, 2025, as well as a series of six new Yacht Collection Cruises on 52-metre Alfa Mario mega-yacht, there is now a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in capacity.

“We draw a lot of people who have never cruised before,” says Unforgettable Croatia European travel specialist Aurore Bertomeu who opened the Melbourne office last year. “And we have some who have cruised before but they don’t like big-ship cruising.

“There are not thousands of people, there are 36 people.”

The past season has been so successful that Bertomeu will soon be adding to her team. The line, which only formed 10 years ago but has grown exponentially, continues to retain its focus on small luxury. And with its smaller size of operations and ships it is able to be more agile in the market and with itineraries being able to stop, pretty much at a whim, in some of the more remote areas of the lesser explored parts of Europe’s lakes and seas.

“You get to swim off the back of the ship in a pristine lake and you are 10 paces away from a local restaurant when you dock,” says Unforgettable Croatia head of Global Sales, David Stone who adds that Australian bookings are up 27 per cent and revenue is up 39 per cent year-on-year.

Overall, Unforgettable Croatia secured its highest-ever occupancy rate of 99.21 per cent in 2024 and the company expects to reach a similar target in excess of 99 per cent in 2025, with 87 per cent of 2025 cruises already sold.

“Following a year of impressive growth, Australians are now tipped to make up one in five guests onboard our luxury small ship cruises, with the Australian market growing from 15 per cent in 2024 to 20 per cent in 2025,” Stone says.

While their average guest age is 55-65, in the high months that average drops by a decade and could include multi-generational travellers, and that includes families and their children who emigrated to Australia from the late 50s right through to the early 1990s.

In addition to Croatia, lesser-known destinations throughout Slovenia, Montenegro and Bosnia are also part of the attraction with some cruisers often adding in combinations with Greece as well. That’s a lot of history and not only Greek. Add in Moorish, Ottoman and even Roman history!

For contemporary needs, good local tour guides are an imperative too, who can find those out of the way spots, little restaurants offering local dishes and small bars on the road less travelled.

“Their knowledge just blows my mind,” says Stone. That’s if they have enough room to eat, given the Amercian-style breakfast and the three-course all-inclusive lunches onboard.

“What we’ve noticed with our Australian guests is that they love the relaxed, yet luxurious, vibe onboard our ships – setting sail in the morning and enjoying breakfast onboard before a leisurely swim stop, lunch onboard, and then an afternoon ashore exploring a coastal town or island on an included excursion such as oyster tasting at Ston or a visit to a family winery in Hvar, with the evenings at leisure to soak up the atmosphere of Croatia’s most picturesque ports,” Bertomeu said.

Meanwhile, Stone, who is currently visiting Australia for the Travel Associates Luxury Product Showcase in Sydney and the Gold Coast as well as to meet local agents as part of an Unforgettable Road Show along the east coast, said the rapid growth meant Unforgettable Croatia was looking to expand its team in Australia not long after establishing a Melbourne office last year.

The company doubled its presence in 2024 with the arrival of Bertomeu, who moved here to help set up the company’s Melbourne office. She has been working alongside Australian Business Development Manager Sarah Whitty from the Hotel Connection.

Since commencing her role in Australia, Aurore said it was interesting to note that many Australian clients were new-to-cruise and after travelling so far, were keen to make the most of the company’s Croatia cruise and land tour packages.

“To make the most of their visit to Croatia, our Australian guests often request a cruise and land tour, where we create a bespoke package combining a seven-night luxury small ship cruise with private land tours and coordinate all the necessary travel requirements for a stress-free and unforgettable visit.”

Unforgettable Croatia’s 2025 program features 133 guaranteed seven-night departures, sailing between Split and Dubrovnik along the Dalmatian Coast from early-May to mid-October. The 2025 season also features a new seven-night Signature Croatia Hidden Gems Cruise, sailing from Split to Opatija and visiting Sibenik, Zadar, the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the islands of Losinj and Krk.