Croatia Airlines is a great airline, but I would recommend you to avoid flying it FROM Amsterdam. Why? Because their handling agent in Amsterdam is Ogden.

Ogden employees are just plain horrible (if there are any to be found - there's never anybody at their "transfer desks"), and it took me five minutes to convince them that my small Samsonite bag was suitable to be taken on board. Despite the fact that it does fit restrictions for hand carried luggage on all airlines, including Croatia Airlines, Ogden employee wanted me to check it in - probably they get a comission on checked luggage they handle. As I have seen on previous occasions how they handle checked luggage, I would never get it checked in under any conditions!

On the plane it was a completely different story! Good looking and courteous flight attendants almost made me forget about Ogden's incompetence - unfortunately, we took off some 25 minutes late because Ogden managed to mess it up again with their lazy loading of checked baggage.

I got a window seat on first row of Economy class, with plenty of leg room. Airbus A-319 was nice and new. Food was good, and so was the service. Pilots made up for the lost time en route so we landed with only five minutes delay.

In conclusion: Croatia Airlines is doing a great job on board: competent pilots, new planes, friendly FAs, comfortable seats... but their ground services in Amsterdam - still done by a handling agent - just suck.