L'Austral Cruise Photos

From: L'Austral cruise review

Day 4: Dubrovnik, Croatia

L'Austral approached Dubrovnik shortly after 8:30 a.m. In the distance, we could see the Old City with its 2 km or 1¼ miles of medieval ramparts.

The Port of Dubrovnik implemented a "2+1" mooring policy for cruise ships a few years ago, which means that--at any given time--two ships are given berths in the suburban port of Gruž while one is permitted to anchor offshore near the Old City. We were lucky: L'Austral was dropping its anchor offshore, and we'd be able to go directly into the Old Harbor by tender (a trip of only a few minutes) instead of being a 45-minute walk or a bus ride from town.

From our balcony, we could see swimmers on a beach east of the Old City that was sheltered by a huge cavern.

While we waited to go ashore, two dancers from the ship's entertainment troupe rehearsed their show moves by the Pool.

Meanwhile, a local sightseeing boat and a gaggle of sea kayaks headed toward the Old City.

Sailors began to lowered the tenders while other crew members anchored the ship.

Soon, the first tender arrived at the ship's marina, ready to take passengers ashore. (This tender's pilot was one of four cadets from a French maritime academy who were interning on L'Austral.)