
This sailing was incredible from start to finish! The staff were all friendly, helpful, and couldn't do enough for you. The ship was an older classic style yacht, very comfortable but definitely a dated look to it. The cabins were small but comfortable, the beds were a little on the hard side for my taste but were still cozy enough to get a good night's sleep. The food on board was wonderful! The kitchen staff outdid themselves at every meal. I swear we barely ever stopped eating on board, as soon as breakfast was cleared, someone was out offering fresh slices of watermelon, then lunch, then a dish of sorbet on the sun deck, then an amazing dinner and cocktails, definitely overdid it but everything was impeccable. The cruise director was always knowledgeable about our ports, giving us plenty of insight on what to do while in each country (Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece). I do think the excursions could be improved upon though, they only offered a couple excursions in each port, and they were participation based, so if the one you wanted didn't have enough guests, it didn't happen. That being said, the only port I think an excursion is truly necessary is Albania. My favorite stops were Korcula, Kotor, Anti-Paxos and Paxos (Anti-Paxos had the best beach and bluest waters I've ever seen in my life!). I would gladly travel with Variety in the future, and look forward to the day I get to sail with them again!
The port of Sarande in Albania was my least favorite, the port city appeared dirty and had a very industrial smog like smell to it. There wasn't much to do if you didn't do an excursion, and the excursion we did wasn't fantastic. We saw the ruins of Butrint, which were fascinating, but our guide wasn't very engaging, and moved through each area very slowly, leaving a lot of time for your mind to wander. You could also tell that Albania doesn't allot much funding to the preservation of it's ruins, as their mosaic floors (the part of the ruins I was most interested in seeing) were covered with sand to preserve them.
I loved this port! Korcula was such a gorgeous island and I could've spent a week in that port alone. The restaurants and wine bars were fantastic (so was the gelato!), the shopping was great, the architecture was beautiful. I can't say enough good about it. I think my favorite part of the day was spending an hour or so snorkeling along the walls of the city. The water was so clear and clean, but there are urchins EVERYWHERE so make sure you wear water shoes or something to cover your feet!