Welcome to my next trip report, which will recount my brief summer journey to Dubrovnik, Croatia earlier this month.
A Summer Visit To Dubrovnik, Croatia
You might recall I flew Lufthansa First Class on my birthday in order to obtain a birthday duck. Rather than just fly to Frankfurt and fly back, I decided to join a friend who was spending time in Dubrovnik. We met in New York and flew together to Dubrovnik. After a few days, I returned home while my friend remained behind. It was a fun time of rest and relaxation.
Now I know visiting Dubrovnik during July or August, when the population explodes tenfold, goes against conventional wisdom. Indeed, the picturesque city was packed. But I was just there for a few days, spent most of my time at two resorts, and quite enjoyed myself.
Croatia is a beautiful country and I do see that Dubrovnik has become overrun with tourists from cruise ships and cheap flights. This wasn’t my first trip to Dubrovnik and it will not be my last, though it probably will be my last during the summer…not so much because of the crowds (though the crowds were bad), but because of the heat.
In New York, rather than stay at a Hyatt, I stayed at the Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattan, which (spoiler alert) was a great hotel, but not worth the high cost. In Dubrovnik, I spent the first two nights at Hotel Excelsior, which partners with Hyatt, then moved over to Villa Dubrovnik on my last day. I flew via Barcelona for my return, spending the night in Barcelona.
Here’s what you can expect for this trip report:
- Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK
- Casa Cipriani New York
- Blade Helicopter Manhattan – JFK
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge (JFK)
- Lufthansa 747-8 First Class JFK-FRA
- Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
- Lufthansa A321 Business Class FRA-MUC
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich
- Lufthansa A319 Business Class MUC-DBV
- Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik
- Great Coffee In Dubrovnik
- Villa Dubrovnik
- Business Lounge Dubrovnik Airport (DBV)
- Vueling A320 Economy Class DBV-BCN
- Hyatt Regency Barcelona
I don’t plan on reviewing the United flights since nothing has changed and I’ve reviewed United Polaris frequently on Live and Let’s Fly.
CONCLUSION
This is about as close to a “live” trip report as you’ll get from me…I typically delay trip reports by a month or two (sadly, sometimes longer), but am going to work in reverse chronological order for my next three trip reports. Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any specific questions about my trip.
What was your flight BCN => LAX? Hopefully LEVEL to save some money LOL!
Most likely via Newark or Dulles on United, hence him not reviewing those flights.
It was UA…actually thought about trying LEVEL…would have been something new to review.
Some good news for LAX based flyers, United is no longer cutting LAX-SAN.
Zach Griff at TPG noted that the route was cut under Ankit Gupta, who used to head up United’s domestic network, and now has been reinstated under Patrick Quayle, who now oversees both domestic and international network.
Hopefully this is a good sign for LAX, as Quayle seems to believe in the market, whereas I think Gupta always wanted to move everything from LAX to SFO/DEN.
Yes, I noticed that on FlyerTalk earlier today.
Also, I am 99% sure that United is resuming LAX-MEL and launching LAX-HND on October 28/29. Keeping these SAN flights around makes sense with these routes resuming, as they can feed traffic to them.
Just looking at the seat map for LAX-MEL on Nov 1, the plane is half full already, I would be shocked if they cut these flights any further. And with Delta resuming LAX-HND, I am sure United will resume that to compete with them and maintain the US-Tokyo market dominance among US airlines.
It’s interesting to think this may be Quayle trying to keep hope alive at LAX. I give him credit for trying LAX-SIN, but it was a huge flop, sadly. I’d love to see UA to MUC/FRA from LAX. Would also love GRU, but AA had trouble on its LAX-GRU/EZE routes.
Aha, looks like someone is pursuing Hyatt globalist requalification after all
Wow, that’s a realistic beach picture: endless crowds with no room to move.
My family and I just spent a month in Italy mostly at those beach clubs. We spent our time largely outside of the big tourist spots, eg meta rather than Sorrento. I’d never experienced them before, ie packed umbrellas, but by the end kind of got used to it. Less crowded than the photos show.
You’ve inspired me. Going to fly from Munich to Dubrovnik on Thursday. Need to be in split by Saturday. Any tips for the family?
Where are you staying? Nothing beats Villa Dubrovnik…what a treat it was.
Walking through the old city is still nice. Coffee at Cogito Coffee is highly recommended.
Do take the cable car to the top during golden hour – great photo opportunity.
Thanks!
Nice pic of you in your seat.