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The harbor of Mali Losinj, Croatia, is filled with yachts, pastel houses and a la dolce vita atmosphere, including lots of pasta restaurants, palm trees and gelato shops. For many centuries, the town belonged to Venice. (Photo by Susan Farlow)

By SUSAN FARLOW
Special to the Journal & Topics Newspapers

"Is this where Marco Polo was born?" a passenger asked, as our ship approached the Croatian island of Korcula. The answer, I would later learn, depends on whom you ask.

One thing I knew even before my trip began: Croatia is a hot destination. From guidebooks to NBC's "Today" Show, the country's coast has been widely touted as the "New Med" or the "New Riviera."

But I wondered: could it be explored well by cruise ship? You'd think so.

After all, the sun-splashed 1,100-mile-long Adriatic coastline, along with its fringe of 1,185 islands, has always been the country's star attraction. Cruising should be, I thought, a good way to cover a lot of sights with little effort and much comfort.

Plus, a cruise would allow me to encounter the country, with its epic history and complex cultures, in the time-honored way of many early visitors, from ancient Greeks and Romans, to the medieval merchants of Venice. All traveled on or along the Adriatic.

OK, a cruise sounded like a good idea in theory, but what would be the reality?

As my two-week cruise unfolded, I realized it would be hard to conjure up a sea more legendary or postcard-beautiful than the strategic Adriatic, the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, with Italy on its western shores, Croatia on its east. As for all those earlier explorers, their fingerprints are visible to this day, in the architecture, cuisine and customs.

I was tackling the region aboard the yacht-like cruise ship M.S. Monet, a 62-passenger vessel with an all-Croatian crew. Ship's captain Bozo Brajovic, who hails from an island near Dubrovnik, told me: "This is the only ship with a 100% Croatian crew. It is unique."

But was there a language problem? Not at all. All crew members who interacted with passengers spoke fine English. And being locals, they were a fount of insider information.

The cruise line itself was founded in 1989 by a Croatian, Mato Stanovic, a 1957 graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and a fellow who knows the Adriatic coast like the back of his hand. Capt. Stanovic continues as president and owner of the company, which is based in Port Washington, New York.

Called "Natural Wonders & Artistic Heritage of the Adriatic," the voyage set off from Venice, Italy. A perfect start because the old Venetian Republic explains a lot about the Adriatic and Croatia, past and present.

In two days, I awoke in the Croatian port of Mali Losinj and found myself in a hodge-podge Riviera: palms trees, pastel houses and sleek yachts lined the waterfront, but the water was so shockingly transparent and aquamarine it looked like the Caribbean or Bora Bora. Yet this old shipbuilding village of 6,500 souls felt like Italy, what with all the gelato shops, pasta places and la dolce vita atmosphere.

And for this, we can thank the Venetians who ruled, off and on, much of the Croatian coast for some 700 years.

Sailing south, we were moving along Croatia's rugged Dalmatian coast, where not only the old Venetian Republic continues to show itself off but also the ancient Roman Empire as well.

At the northern Dalmatian port town of Zadar (pop.: 80,000), I found myself walking on a marble street put down by the ancient Romans. And it led me to an ancient Roman Forum that still functions as one of the town's meeting places and where kids roller-blade and play hide-and-seek among toppled columns.

I walked a few blocks farther and stumbled upon a photo of President Bill Clinton hanging in a shop window. He's wearing a tie, holding a pen and standing next to a spotted dog. Perhaps the picture was Photoshopped but it still serves to point out to passersby three products that Croatia proudly claims to have originated: the necktie, fountain pen and Dalmatian dog.

Now, let's say you're the emperor of Rome, and you're looking for a spot for your retirement home. You have the entire Roman Empire at your disposal. That was Emperor Diocletian's situation in A.D. 295. What did he do? He built at Split, our next port of call, and today the second largest city in the country (after the capital, Zagreb) with some 200,000 citizens.

Sure, one of the reasons Diocletian chose this spot was because he was born in the area and wanted to return to his roots. But that takes nothing away from the stunning setting on a sheltered bay.

From the upper terrace of his sumptuous stone palace, he would watch the fabled sunsets over the Adriatic. Though Diocletian was in retirement, he wasn't into downscaling. It is "10-acres' worth of retirement home," said my guide, in describing this vast UNESCO World Heritage Site, considered one of the best and largest examples of Roman palatial architecture still standing.

Next morning, we sailed out of Split harbor at 7 am, bound for the island of Korcula, where the Polo family, Marco's parents, once lived. Before long, the ship was rocking and rolling.

We were getting a taste of the infamous Bora, a brutal north wind whose howling, one guide said, can make a man go mad.

After two hours of rough seas, the winds stopped. All of a sudden. Like someone flipped off the Wind Switch.

"The good thing about this bora wind," said cruise director Monika Sisina, "is that it blows away all the clouds."

It was in these waters that Marco Polo (who lived c.1254-1324) was captured in 1298 by the Genoese during a naval battle with the Venetians, then imprisoned in Genoa where he dictated to his cellmate one of the most famous travel books of all times.

Around 1 pm, passengers' eyes were locked on the stunning medieval village of Korcula up ahead, located on the island of the same name. "This is my favorite port on the Dalmatian coast," says Monika, the cruise director, as she gazed at the rock-walled settlement roosting on a peninsula that juts into the shimmering Adriatic.

Once on shore, near a travel agency named "Marko Polo Tours," we met up with our guide, Dubravka. While tourist brochures, t-shirts and postcards claim Korcula is the birthplace of Marco Polo, Dubravka isn't completely onboard with that notion.

As she shepherded us through the narrow stone streets of Korcula town (pop.: 3,300), stopping at stone towers, palaces, museums, churches and passing the house where she was born 50 years ago, she gave us her take on the subject. "Nobody knows if Marco Polo was born there," she said pointing to a tall stone building. "That was the house of his father, Nicolo Polo. And on the other side was his uncle's house. Maybe little Marco lived here. But there is no document telling where Marco Polo was born, despite what they tell you in Venice. [Venice claims Marco's birth.] Yes, he lived and died in Venice, but his birth is not clear."

Well, that explains why a number of sources say that Marco Polo was "reputedly" or "allegedly" born in Korcula. A good hedge for scholars. And travel writers.

Only a 50-mile sail from Korcula lies the city of Dubrovnik, today the most popular destination on the Croatian coast and a place that was Venice's rival � and equal � as a commercial empire during the Middle Ages.

Once a maritime powerhouse, Dubrovnik is still best approached--and appreciated-- from the sea. As we drew near, shipmates' cameras got a workout, trying to capture the dramatic scene of stone ramparts soaring straight out of the Adriatic and completely encircling the medieval Old Town, yet another UNESCO World Heritage site.

With the ship docked in Dubrovnik for several days, one excursion is a day-long trip to Montenegro, one of the world's newest countries �it declared independence from Serbia on June 3, 2006-- whose border is only 30 miles south from Dubrovnik. Most passengers take this tour, which includes a visit to the walled medieval town of Kotor, a former Mediterranean naval power located on Europe's southernmost fjord. And guess what: It's also a UNESCO-recognized site.

The next day, we started to head back toward Venice, stopping along the way at the town of Sibenik, the hometown of TV's "ER" star Gorin Visnjic. Not far from the town, on my last day in Dalmatia, I finally saw it: A Dalmatian dog. Just a pup. Being walked on a leash. Many researchers dispute Croatia's claim that the Dalmatian dog originates from here. But every guide I've had on this trip claims it to be fact. True or not, I'm happy to see one here.

Turns out, a cruise had delivered all the goods I'd hoped for.

Ahoy, Croatia!

If You Go...

For the fall and winter of 2008, Elegant Cruises will offer four sailings of the itinerary I took aboard the 62-passenger M.S. Monet.

Called "Natural Wonders & Artistic Heritage of the Adriatic," these 15-day cruises are offered Nov 4-19, Nov 18-Dec 3, Dec 2-19 and Dec 18-Jan 4. Air/sea prices run from $4,325-$8,675, per person, with air from New York. (The air add-on price from Chicago ranges from $0-$121, according to the cruise's website).

For 2009, there will be two sailings of this 15-day itinerary: Apr. 1-15 and Nov 4-18, with cruise-only prices ranging from $3,695 to $7,895, per person. Cruises begin and end in Venice and travel Croatia's entire Adriatic coast, including reaching into the neighboring countries of Slovenia (to the north) and Montenegro (to the south).

For more information: contact Elegant Cruises & Tours, 800-683-6767.

Website: www.elegantcruises.com E-mail: info@elegantcruises.com Elegant Cruises also features shorter Croatia/Adriatic itineraries, on the M.S. Monet and her sister ship the 105-passenger M.S. Andrea. The 7-night "Ve ice and The Dalmatian Coast" runs April through November, with prices ranging from $3,165 to $6,625, per person. Another itinerary, the 12-night "Lands of the Adriatic," is offered, only aboard the M.S. Andrea, in August, September, and October, with prices going from $3,495 to $8,795, per person.