Our one day in Montenegro was truly a glorious one. Soon after sunrise, Sea Cloud sailed past the Austro-Hungarian forts that guard the entrance from the Adriatic into the Bay of Kotor. The captain brought the ship alongside the pier at Zelenika to allow guests and staff to disembark for the logistically adventurous, full-day exploration of the Bay of Kotor. By coach we transferred to the ferry across the narrow waterway that connects the outer and inner parts of the Bay of Kotor. Once off the ferry, we strolled along the waterfront road in the village of Lepetane to reach our small, local tenders out to the picturesque islets of Saint George and Our Lady of the Rock. The latter island was our destination with its charming, small, domed church, dedicated to the Virgin and visited by seafaring Montenegrins over the centuries. The island itself was built by inhabitants of the bay during the Middle Ages who dropped rocks at the site of a miraculous icon of the Virgin found stranded on a reef there. After our guided visit to the chapel and to the museum, we re-boarded our little boats to transfer over to the historic town of Perast for some leisure time and perhaps an iced coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Once again, we re-embarked the little boats for the sail back to Lepetane to rejoin our coaches. From there, we drove past Montenegro’s international airport to begin the stunning climb up a series of 25 switchbacks that brought us to an absolutely stunning view of the Bay of Kotor on a brilliant sunny day. We continued up and over to arrive to the farming village of Njegusi for a delicious and crowd-pleasing lunch with ingredients from the area including their famous smoke cured prosciutto. Full and happy, we descended the switchbacks by coach to arrive at the UNESCO World Heritage walled city of Kotor. Here our local guides took us on a light walking tour of the main town squares, narrow alleys, the Catholic cathedral and the Serbian Orthodox church.
After tendering back to the ship, we enjoyed fresh oysters and champagne as Sea Cloud sailed the fjord-like bay with the light of the setting sun on the mountains above. After a fantastic BBQ dinner on the Lido Deck featuring a roasted suckling pig, guests stayed for a boisterous performance of the Sea Cloud’s famed Shanty Singers.
