PEPE

Highly recommended 5 stars

We are a family of 4 from England (Mum, Dad, daughters 20 & 16). This was our first sailing experience & we didn’t really know what to expect. We had nothing to be concerned about. Vladimir & Marijiana organized the booking seamlessly. Our skipper Bruno & hostess Ivana were exceptional. We cannot praise them highly enough.

The boat is fantastically equipped, the top seating deck is the perfect place for a relaxing view of the magnificent Croatian islands. Occurred to us, with the crystal clear water, historic ports, first class bars & restaurants, why would we need a long haul flight to the Caribbean?

During our stay we visited Brac, Hvar (including a night at Lola’s in Hvar Town), Vis & Solte. Each of these islands is magical. The weather was calm. On Vis we had a fascinating half day historical tour with Mladen. Bruno took us to some outstanding restaurants. Ivana cooked banquets for breakfast and lunch with fresh lemonade & thoughtful personal touches. Everyone we met were bright, empathetic & engaging.

We cannot recommend this trip enough to the reader... The crew will treat you like family. The environment is perfection. You will return from the holiday reinvigorated & enlightened.

Thank you Vladimir, Marijiana, Bruno & Ivana for everything

We sailed roundtrip from Trogir, Croatia with Captain Bruno and Chef Marko. Vladimir was our point of contact at Luxury Sail. We booked the trip through NauticEd and Emily was our point of contact.

There were 6 of us (2 married couples and a mother/son pair) on the trip. Three couples is the max number of people that can be accommodated on the Pepe if there is a Captain and Chef as there are 4 cabins. There was plenty of room for us to feel like we had space.

The Lagoon 46 catamaran "Pepe" is a beautiful boat with several areas to lounge in the sun or shade and relax. It's very well-maintained and clean. My husband and I had a cabin with ample storage, a comfy, big bed and a very nice bathroom with a shower (good water pressure) and convenient cabinets for storage. They only provide soap so we brought shampoo etc. We were very happy with the Pepe.

Bruno is an excellent captain. He kept the journey moving along very smoothly and did a great job piloting the boat. He was flexible with the itinerary, offering us options that made the trip feel bespoke. He's very familiar with the area and took us to beautiful island ports and coves for sightseeing and swimming, coordinated all the docking and made us feel safe and well taken care of. Often we were the only people on a beach or swimming at a cove. It was lovely. One example of Bruno's exemplary service was his conscientiousness around a work meeting I had to do. Bruno planned our itinerary so that we would be at a port with good WiFi for my meeting. That was huge for me and Bruno was extremely gracious about it. Another example was that one day we took a bike trip and one of us had an accident -- we called Bruno and he not only coordinated a taxi to pick up the person and bike but he accompanied the taxi driver to help out. He was so helpful and kind, really terrific!

Marko far exceeded our expectations for a sailing Chef. We had originally thought we would want a "cook/hostess" so we could eat out at local restaurants for our dinners. It turned out that we were much happier with Marko cooking for us. Marko is a masterful chef. Every dish he prepared -- breakfast, lunch & dinner – was made with fresh, local ingredients, beautifully presented and delicious. Dinner and lunch were paired with delicious Croatian wines. The meals Marko prepared were among the best I've ever had and far better than any meal we had in a restaurant the entire time we were there (and the food in Croatia is delicious!). Marko was also a very gracious host, always available if we needed anything. For example, one day, one of us had an allergy attack. Marko made a call to the pharmacy and had allergy medicine for us in less than half an hour -- he saved the day!

I can't say enough about how welcoming, gracious and professional Bruno and Marko were. They made the trip one of the best vacations I've ever taken. The Islands we visited were breathtakingly beautiful. We are already planning to come back to sail more of the Dalmatian Islands with Bruno and Marko!!

My one piece of "constructive feedback" for Luxury Sail is that, from a payment perspective, the administrators should consider using an Advance Provision Allowance (APA) instead of charging for docking, gas and provisions at the end of the trip. I always prefer to cover as much of the trip costs upfront as possible. Paying a big, variable bill at the end of a trip is a bit stressful and isn't a great way to end a fabulous trip.

Overall, we loved it and look forward to sailing with them again!