My wife and I visited Croatia for two weeks in May, returning 5/26. Like our other European vacations, we found Rick's guidebook to be indispensable. Whether it was determining which cities to visit, which sights to see, restaurants to eat at or places to sleep, we relied on his book a lot. We visited Rovinj, Plitvice Lakes national park, Split, Korcula, and Dubrovnik. The tour groups were already out in force, I can't imagine what these places are like in July and August, although by late afternoon and in the evenings things calmed down a lot.
We had Rick's 4th edition book (published May 2012) and it needs to be updated. Some prices are now way off, especially in percentage terms, some details surrounding walking tours are outdated and need to be corrected. One apartment owner told me a new book is due shortly.
We slept in 3 places based on Rick's book. Trevisol Apartments in Rovinj, which was fabulous. Hotel Plitvice at the park, which was better than expected, and Ivana and Anita Raic's apartment in Dubrovnik which was very nice. We found some good restaurants outside of Rick's book. Anyone visiting Rovinj should try the Balbi Restaurant, just across from Rick's recommended Piassa Granda wine bar. In Plitvice, Degenija Restoran, 10 KM north of the south entrance on the main road, serves lots of locals and good meals. In Korcula, Konoba Nono serves homemade pasta dishes that are fantastic. In Dubrovnik, we liked Veritas so much we went a second time. Rick should check these places out and possibly add them to his book.
A day trip to Mostar was terrific. We are glad we took Rick's advice to visit. Bosnia is in sad shape economically and it showed. In Mostar, evidence of the war is still apparent but we felt safe. Seeing one of the bridge jumpers dive into 50 deg F water was a treat.
Overall, we had a very nice time. We lowered our expectations as far as food and service, but were pleasantly surprised. All of our apartment hosts were terrific.
One other key thing I would like to add. As of 5/15, there is now early morning high speed boat service from Split to Hvar, Korcula and Dubrovnik. It currently only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, departs split at 0730 and arrives at Korcula at 1005. Cost to Korcula was 90 kuna.