One week stay in apartment along Dalmatian coast

Are you planning to rent a car? If you will depend on public transportation, you may not want to be in a village.

I'd pick up a good guidebook, make a list of towns/cities/islands that sound intriguing, and plot them on a map to see what might be a good base city. Dubrovnik is probably going to be costlier, but--especially if you have a car--it opens up the possibility of day trips to Montenegro (get rental company's approval in advance). Be aware that driving between Dubrovnik and Split, you cross a bit of Bosnia, and that plan also needs to be disclosed to the car-rental company.

Thanks for the prompt reply. Our cruise visits Mljet, Korcula, Vis, Hvar, Brac as well as tours of Dubrovnik and Split. Reading the Guide books, we have found that the towns of Trogir, Salona, and perhaps Makarska sound interesting. We thought we would only need a car for a few days if we stayed in Split, but haven't sorted out transportation from there to Dubrovnik for the tour start. Not sure how it would b to pickup car in Split and deliver to Dubrovnik...so maybe the train is a better alternative.

Dubrovnik doesn't have any trains, so it's car, bus or ferry/catamaran, depending on where you are staying.

Makarska, Omis, Trogir or Cavtat would be suitable for a week. Alternatively, you could spend half the week in Trogir or Cavtat and the other half on one of the islands, as you aren't going to see much of any of the islands whilst on the cruise.

The buses between Split and Dubrovnik are fine, in my experience.