Port of Dubrovnik a little busier than the Port of Freo

I’m in Dubrovnik, another unique and bewitching city. Bryon called it ‘the pearl of the Adriatic’.

We Fremantle Shipping News ship-spotters can’t help ourselves even when away from home. The cruise ships just keep arriving: two, three or four some days. Like Freo these huge ships dominate the port with glimpses of them down streets and around corners. Most just stay for the day; arrive at 8am and leave at 4pm.

So I’ll have to gauge the best time to visit the walled city where thousands of visitors walk the marble streets and city walls everyday of the year — gazing, gasping and posing for instagram shots. Add seven thousand cruise ship passengers to the mix and you can’t move and it is October, the shoulder season.

Today, there are two cruise ships in port Marcella Explorer 2 and Aidablue, along with maybe 50 smaller cruise ships carrying between 30-60. AIDAblue is a sister ship to AIDAmar and AIDAsol who have visited Freo in recent years.

Here’s MS Oosterdam – we passed her two days ago off the island of Korcula — she’s due in town in two days time. She is a sister ship to MS Noordam and MS Zuiderdam who have visited Freo in recent years.