December 21, 2026 – January 4, 2027 · 14 nights · 13 stops
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey to the Riviera for a New Year at Sea
The itinerary, port by port
13 calls over 14 nights, Lisbon to Civitavecchia (Rome). Open any port for my full day-ashore guide, what to see, when to go, and how the day actually runs.
Getting there: Flights to Lisbon (LIS) are already bookable for these dates. I watch the fare for booked clients so you book at the right moment. When to book your flights →
Gibraltar is a 2.6 square mile British territory built around a single limestone monolith at the mouth of the Mediterranean, where you hear English, pay in pounds, and look across the strait toward Morocco. Port guide →
Málaga is the working capital of the Costa del Sol and the birthplace of Picasso, and its old town packs a Moorish hilltop fortress, a 1st-century BC Roman theater, and an unfinished Renaissance cathedral… Port guide →
Alicante is a working Costa Blanca city that puts a hilltop Moorish fortress, a marble seafront promenade, and a maze-like medieval quarter inside a single walkable radius from the cruise pier. Port guide →
Ibiza's reputation is nightlife, but the cruise call is about Dalt Vila, the walled UNESCO old town climbing from the harbor to a 14th-century cathedral. Port guide →
Barcelona packs Gaudí's modernisme, a 2,000-year-old Roman and medieval core, and a working Mediterranean waterfront into a single dense, walkable city. Port guide →
Palma is the capital of Mallorca and the largest city in the Balearics, built in warm honey-colored sandstone around a sandstone Gothic cathedral that rises straight off the seafront. Port guide →
Palamós is a working fishing town on the Costa Brava, set in one of the deepest bays in the western Mediterranean, where the cruise quay sits inside the urban fabric rather than at an industrial terminal. Port guide →
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a pastel fishing town wrapped around one of the deepest natural harbors on the Riviera, which is why ships anchor here instead of in Nice. Port guide →
Genoa is a dense, layered port city that ran a maritime empire, with a UNESCO-listed core of Renaissance palaces and one of Europe's largest preserved medieval quarters threaded by the caruggi, its tall… Port guide →
Livorno is a working Tuscan port, and for most travelers it is the gateway rather than the destination: about 80 km and 90 minutes inland lies Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, with Pisa roughly… Port guide →
Civitavecchia is Rome's deepwater port, a working harbor about 80 km northwest of the capital, and for most travelers it is the gateway rather than the destination. Port guide →
Fares on this departure, decoded
Reading the fare fine print is the job. Here's what this sailing currently carries:
Founders Fare
A founding-era fare on a selected set of sailings. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
The ship and your suite
This sailing is aboard EXPLORA II, all-suite,
every suite with a private ocean-front terrace. Suites run from the entry Ocean Terrace to the Owner's
Residence; the right tier depends on how you travel.
Compare suites → · What's included →
Send me the dates and the suite tier you have in mind and I'll come back with a confirmed live number and my read on the sailing within 24 hours. Best available price, and I make it worth more.