Sail COVID-Safe Policy
The Current COVID-19 Situation in Croatia
Croatia is a family-friendly destination with luscious views of the sea, rivers, green forests, pastures, and many more gorgeous scenes to accommodate everyone’s tastes.
With numerous hotels, ships, and other private accommodations, Croatia has enacted exceptional measures for maintaining hygiene, cleanliness, and other COVID-19 safety protocols.
These measures, along with their advanced medical facilities, have placed Croatia at the forefront of protected and secured European countries. This has allowed them to open their borders since June 2020 without having to resort to lockdown measures.
We welcome travelers of all ages with a vaccination certificate, proof of quarantine and recovery, or a negative viral test. Similar to many countries, Croatia asks that travelers take a COVID test 72 hours before arriving or a rapid antigen test at least 48 hours before boarding the plane. If you have a vaccination certificate, it is generally valid for nine months after the completion of both tests.
Tourists must bring their test results of the vaccine certificate and prove that their accommodations have been paid for in advance.
Raising the Bar for Hygiene and Safety
The pandemic has necessitated changes in many different industries, especially when it comes to traveling. It is important that travelers ensure the health and safety of fellow travelers, airline staff, hotel staff, cruise ship members, and citizens of all countries.
Always Croatia uses coronavirus safety standards to protect every single person onboard our ships. We have outlined the safety and cleaning protocols that our staff follows to safeguard your well-being and security for the duration of your entire trip with us.
Our Cleaning Protocol
At Always Croatia, we reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses by consistently disinfecting all surfaces, doorknobs, floors, and more. While our cruise ships are always routinely cleaned, we have increased the frequency of these cleanings by sanitizing common areas twice a day.
Our staff use cleaning supplies that are a minimum of 70 percent alcohol or diluted bleach that are proven to kill viruses and bacteria and minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
We target and disinfect heavily handled areas like doorknobs, chairs, furniture, tables, cabin keys, handrails, remote control devices, and other surfaces multiple times a day.
We offer cleaning services to your cabin on a daily basis throughout your vacation. In order to keep our guests safely distanced, we ask them to leave their cabins while our staff efficiently cleans and treats all surfaces with potent sanitizers that have been proven to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
If you do not want your cabin cleaned twice daily, that’s totally fine! Just let our staff know. We no longer hold extra blankets and pillows within cabin wardrobes, but our cabin staff will be happy to provide them upon request.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
We understand that hygiene protocols have been established all over the world, but we still wish to repeat them to our guests to establish how important safety is to us.
We ask guests to wash their hands frequently and avoid touching their mouth, nose, or eyes. To ensure that COVID-19 is not further spread, we have provided hand sanitizers in common areas and upon entry to our ship. We ask that each guest applies hand sanitizer when entering the salon or upon entering or leaving the ship.
We provide items like soap, disinfecting wipes, and paper towels in each cabin for guests to use as necessary.
Guests who wish to leave the cruise ship for day trips are offered complimentary disposable surgical face masks for everyone’s safety.
Air-Conditioning on the Ship
All the Always Croatia cruise ships are equipped with individually-controlled air-conditioner units in each cabin. We maintain and repair these air-conditioning systems every year and replace filters when necessary.
We keep each unit separate and disinfected to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria. Air circulation is maintained by keeping doors and windows open during meals. We will organize common areas and eating rooms so that guests practice social distancing. We add air ionizers throughout our ship to kill off microorganisms and stop the spread of infection.
Social Distancing Rules
Always Croatia maintains smaller cruises that have a strict passenger limit in accordance with social distancing rules.
Our guests can enjoy roomy and comfortable sundecks so that they can lounge and enjoy the view while being safely distanced from other guests. We mark each chair with cabin numbers to allow guests to have their own personal chairs. We ask that passengers only sit where their cabin number is marked.
Guests love to enjoy the Jacuzzis on board, but we ask them to limit their use to two passengers at a time. It’s not likely that using a swimming pool or Jacuzzi will increase the spread of COVID-19 as long as social distancing rules are maintained.
Culinary Dining
We will rearrange the furniture in restaurants or waiting areas to place tables further apart for your safety. Tables can seat four people instead of eight. We will place additional tables on deck.
While we no longer serve buffets, our individually served meals are just as delectable. We may serve meals at two different times for larger groups, and our chef and assistants wear gloves while preparing and serving food and beverages.
Fully Trained Crew & Ground Staff
Our entire accomplished crew is fully trained and knowledgeable on current safety procedures, including exemplary hygiene standards and proper social distancing implementation.
Our staff will use hand sanitizer often along with gloves and masks. We also check our crew’s body temperature and health every day.
To keep guests and staff safe, we ask guests to carry their luggage as per the Croatian Institute of Public Health’s suggestions to follow social distancing regulations. If assistance is needed, we are happy to help. We suggest only one piece of baggage per person, along with one piece of hand luggage.
Experienced Cruise Directors
With respect to social distancing policies, swimming breaks will be regulated by the cruise director and the crew. The number of passengers using the upper deck and swim platform will be limited. The staff will observe, keeping track of the number of people in all areas to prevent crowding.
If ships are moored next to each other, we ask guests to follow specific procedures when embarking and disembarking. The cruise director will organize disembarkment as the boat arrives at each new port, communicated via the ship’s sound system to maintain social distancing. When leaving the ship, guests should go towards the bow, and when coming from the mainland, they should walk towards the stern, in accordance with the ship’s design.
Respecting check-in and check-out times is also essential to avoid crowding when walking onboard or when leaving the ship. Always mind the social distancing policy by keeping a minimum distance of 1.5 meters or speak to the cruise director if you cannot do so.
Daily Health Checks
Our seasoned cruise directors will monitor and track guest’s daily temperatures with non-touch checks using infrared thermometers.
Anyone who feels unwell or has a fever will be immediately taken to the nearest hospital or medical centre for their health.
We would like our guests to know that Croatia boasts incredibly high standards for medical care in accordance with EU standards. No matter where we are at on your vacation, you are never far from medical professionals.
