Deluxe Cruise Split to Dubrovnik 7nts on MS Ambassador (Saturdays)

Make your own way to Trogir, where the ship is berthed and cabins are available from the afternoon. The old town is a compact grid of palaces, churches and towers on a small island between the mainland and Ciovo, and a guided walk takes in the Cathedral of St Lawrence and its Radovan portal. The Cruise Director introduces the crew and your fellow passengers at 7pm, and dinner follows at 7.30pm.

A short morning cruise to Split, where a guided walk leads through Diocletian's Palace, the fourth-century retirement complex that the city simply grew into and never left. Lunch is served on board as we sail for Brac, with a swim stop in a quiet bay along the way. The afternoon brings us to Milna, a sheltered village of pale stone houses at the head of a deep inlet, with the evening free to eat ashore.

We sail this morning for Bol and Zlatni Rat, the shingle spit that shifts its shape with the current and appears on half the postcards in Croatia. After lunch and a swim we continue to Vis, the furthest of the inhabited islands from the mainland and closed to visitors as a military zone until 1989, which left it quieter and less built up than its neighbours. An optional excursion visits the fishing village of Komiza.

An early cruise to the islet of Bisevo and its Blue Cave, where light entering below the waterline turns the interior a deep luminous blue. Entry is by small boat and depends on the sea state, so it cannot be guaranteed in advance. A swim stop and lunch on board follow before we continue to Hvar, where a local guide walks you through the Renaissance square, the cathedral and the arsenal.

A relaxed morning at sea with a swim stop in a clear bay and lunch on board, arriving at Korcula in the afternoon. The walled town sits on a small peninsula laid out in a herringbone of narrow lanes, angled to catch the summer breeze and block the winter wind. A guided walk covers the cathedral, the town walls and the house that tradition claims as Marco Polo's birthplace.

We cruise to Mljet, the most wooded island in the Adriatic, where the national park protects two connected saltwater lakes and a twelfth-century Benedictine monastery on an islet in the larger one. Park entrance is included. Lunch is served on board as we continue to Slano, a quiet bay on the Dubrovnik Riviera backed by pine forest and olive groves. The Captain's Dinner is served this evening with live music.

A morning departure past the Elaphiti Islands, cruising close along the city walls for photographs before berthing at Gruz. A guide and coach meet the ship for a walking tour of the old town, taking in the Stradun, the Rector's Palace and the Franciscan monastery. The rest of the day is yours for the city walls or the cable car to Mount Srd, with a coach transfer back to the ship in the evening.

Breakfast on board, then farewell to the crew and your fellow passengers.