In the past, I have not been a big fan of vacationing on huge cruise ships.  A few friends and I watched from the shore of Glacier Bay as cruise ship after cruise ship made their way up the large fjord.  We were happy experiencing the wilderness of one of the America’s most magnificent national parks on a more personal scale.  Just us and the grizzly bears.  Could the Bays of Kotor change that feeling?

Another time, I stayed at a hotel in Kusadsi for almost a week a few years ago.  Every day brought several behemoths to dock at the waterfront. Buses lined up for the inevitable bus pilgrimage to nearby Ephesus.  And then, at sunset, the giant ships would set sail into the sunset for their next day’s destination – Bodrum, Mykonos, Santorini, Istanbul. Again, I was happy to be staying behind.  This year, I bit the bullet joining a cruise taking in the Adriatic and western Mediterranean.  The cruise turned out very enjoyable.  The highlight, the slow entry into the wondrous fjord system making up the Bocche di Cattaro, known locally as the Boka Kotorska or simply, the Magic of Kotor.