Am, I missing something?

I would not give that a second thought, as any place can fail to click with a specific person. I've been four times over the last two decades and have noted many fans of the country on forums over the years, so I'd call that impression an outlier.
My meal at Konoba Vatrica in Vis was one of my life's best meals. Seafood fan will definitely be more happy, and yes there is less variety in the cuisine than we are used to as Americans, but nothing that will make you feel deprived for a vacation.

Discount his experience. We loved Croatia, the food and wine and the people. We haven’t been to Vis or Brac but have been to Korcula, Split and Dubrovnik.

I too would discount your friends experience. Over the years I have heard negative experiences in several countries and chose to ignore it.

We took the RS Adriatic Tour in 2018. It included Split, Dubrovnik & Korcula. Every place we visited had wonderful cuisine, & kind people. I have to say one of the highlights was visiting Mostar & Stolac. We had 2 different local guides who were children during the Bosnian War. They were fortunate to survive and have thrived.. Never did we hear anger or despondency. Having experienced this interaction was life altering. It was at the top of our favorite tours. Enjoy your trip!

My husband and I have made two lengthy trips to Croatia, visiting all of your planned stops except Brac, plus several more. We enjoyed wonderful food and service wherever we went. I’m sorry your friend had such a bad experience but I think you can safely discount it, and resume looking forward to what sounds like a fabulous trip. I’m glad you get to experience Vis — it was one of our favorite places.

What an interesting take-away. But it’s true that time, background, and experience can give us different viewpoints. I had an absolutely lovely time for the month of September last year and can’t begin to imagine what your friend might have experienced. But I wasn’t on a sailboat. I would let it go and have a wonderful time - I certainly did!

I want to add to what everyone else is saying. We visited Croatia in September 2019 and we had a fabulous time. We did not meet any angry and despondent Croatians; the towns were not dirty and in most cases, the food and wine were delicious! We visited Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar Town, Plitvice and Zagreb. Everywhere was wonderful, beautiful, and clean, and wait staff, hotel staff, etc. were polite, friendly and helpful. I can't imagine why your friend would say this. Yes, some places are crowded, such as Dubrovnik and Split, but all beautiful and interesting places are crowded for a reason.

We first visited in 2011. We have returned to Croatia in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019. I dream of Zagreb now and again. I'd love to retire there. It's a wonderful country.

Your friend is probably thinking of Italy.

Maybe if he had never been to Eastern Europe before; as the people aren't particularly known for smiling and being outward in their emotions unless they are mad I never had a meal in Croatia that was memorable for the quality of the food. I drank some local wine and it was very "okay". Split I thought was dirty and was crowded with rich drunk kids when I was there. Dubrovnik is always crowded, but not particularly dirty. Zagreb was pretty much okay on all points. I have been to Croatia twice, while I enjoyed the trip, I have a pretty long list of places I found more enjoyable.

I wouldn't discount your friends opinion, I would just consider it as one of may valid perspectives.

Shrug. I know a lot of people who say Parisians are rude, and yet I found them to be, in general, kind and polite. A couple of them even went above and beyond to be helpful.

I do get what James is saying. We flew from Norway to Scotland, and there was a marked difference between how the people in Norway interacted with us vs those in Scotland. The people in Norway tended to be much more reserved, whereas the people in Scotland tended to be much more jovial and effusive. Even the airport security people were laughing and joking with us! So, there are definite cultural differences in how citizens of a country tend to interact with strangers. That doesn't make them rude or "angry and despondent," just different. (And, as an introvert, I can understand and appreciate the difference.)

I also found that in some countries, formal greetings and courtesies are expected, and the citizens may be offended if a person just starts in on a question or request without greeting them first.

Furthermore, I think that SOME tourists are treated rudely because their behaviour is entitled and dismissive (of other ways of doing things).

Granite Bay Larry: we spent over 3 weeks in the fall 2013 driving around Slovenia & Croatia. Had a great time. Some food was okay, some good, some great, none bad. Places were generally very clean. Have seen worse in the US and even Japan. Remember that those countries were in Communist Yugoslavia until 1991. I think that made them normally reserved amongst strangers. We made it a point to try to chat with the locals in many places with me mangling their languages. Often I would ask them the word for something and ask for pronunciation repeats. In most cases, the people opened up and, it turned out, had pretty fair English. In some cafes, we treated a round of coffee, pastries or beer to ease the conversation. It worked. We loved both countries and would return in a heart beat if we weren't so behind in our travels. Ignore what you don't like and enjoy what you do.

Thank you to all who replied to my post. You've given me many good reasons to go ahead with our Croatia trip. My wife and I have traveled extensively in Europe, and we were both surprised (and dumbfounded) as to why our friend didn't like Croatia. We are moving forward with our plans for 2023 to visit there.
Larry

Glad to hear it Larry. We were there last September and are going again in June. Believe me, where I live in Brooklyn in it far more dirtier then Croatia and I’ve had many bad meals in NYC, but I wouldn’t advise people not to visit.

Larry, happy to hear that you are moving forward with planning your trip to Croatia! Croatia is a beautiful country. The Adriatic coastline is stunning, and I think Split and Dubrovnik are beautiful and interesting cities. We had many delicious meals, and a few mediocre meals, which happens just about anywhere. Our daughter and her husband visited Croatia several years before we did, and they also loved it!

Can someone double check ferry info from Split to Ancona, Italy for me?

I think a ferry run by Jadrolinja departs Split at 20:00 on Thursday, January 14.

I just need someone to double check the time, date, and price. Most of my searching has been through Google Translated pages and I want to confirm to make sure there aren't translation errors.

Thanks!

embers, here is the Jadrolinija website, in English:
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/ferry-croatia

Did you mean to say January? The January 2023 schedule is not posted yet, so just keep checking the Jadrolinija website.
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/default-source/Me%C4%91unarodne-linije-2022/plovidbeni-red-l53_2022-eng.pdf?sfvrsn=8

I just want to point out that Plitvice Lakes is a magnificent place and thumbs up for going. Because usually if someone mentions it, people go all berserk that you don't want to go there because my god there are other tourists! Also, take one of the longer routes there that include a ferry ride, because otherwise you need to walk the same route backwards and miss some cool views.

Also, Ljubljana in Slovenia is a very beautiful city, if that fits your route somehow, I recommend it.

Thanks for the link:

https://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/default-source/Me%C4%91unarodne-linije-2022/plovidbeni-red-l53_2022-eng.pdf?sfvrsn=8 /omeglevoojio

I just came home from the Istria area of Croatia and it was wonderful. Friendly, great wine, great food, so many great towns to visit and beautifully clean towns and aribnbs.