Croatia

Dubrovnik’s Hotel Excelsior sits steps from the Old City walls, and what stood out wasn’t the design — plenty of hotels chase that Instagram-worthy look now — it was the staff remembering small details and going out of their way to make the stay feel personal instead of just photogenic.

We have also come at Croatia twice from the water. A Seabourn sailing from Athens to Venice gave us a single day in Dubrovnik, which is nowhere near enough — it rained, and the wet stone actually made the colors of the old town better. That same trip stopped in Primosten, a sleepy beach town where the clouds rolled in, everyone went indoors, and for a few minutes it felt like the place was ours. Later, a 10-day Celebrity cruise brought the whole family back through Croatia on a loop that also took in Italy, Greece and Montenegro.