Split to Dubrovnik Cruise 7nts on MS Splendid (Saturdays)

The ship comes alongside in Split at 2.30pm and luggage is taken on board. At 3pm a guided walk leads through Diocletian's Palace, the fourth-century retirement complex that the city simply grew into and never left, and anyone preferring to stay on board is welcome to. We sail at 5pm for Omis, set where the Cetina river cuts through the coastal mountains and long a pirate stronghold. The welcome meeting is at 7pm, dinner at 7.30pm.

A morning crossing of the Brac Channel with a swim stop in one of the island's quieter bays and lunch on board. We continue to Pucisca, a working village at the head of a deep inlet, built from the pale limestone quarried above it. That stone went into the White House and the Austrian parliament, and the village still runs the only stonemasonry school in Croatia. It is a very quiet overnight berth.

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, with time ashore for a swim or a walk. Lunch is served on board as we cross to Hvar, arriving in the evening. A local guide walks you through the Renaissance square, the cathedral and the arsenal, and the evening is free for dinner ashore.

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. Lunch follows on board as we continue to Vis, the furthest of the inhabited islands from the mainland and a closed military zone until 1989. An optional excursion visits Komiza.

A relaxed morning at sea with a swim stop 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, with the evening free.

A morning 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 payable on arrival. 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.

A morning cruise along the Elaphiti Islands with a short swim stop and lunch on board. A guide and coach meet the ship on arrival 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.