16 nights, Barcelona to Civitavecchia (Rome)
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey from a Riviera New Year to the Mediterranean’s Deep Soul
Sixteen nights, fourteen stops, one day at sea. This is a dense Western Med run that starts in Barcelona, threads the Spanish and French coasts, then works its way down Italy before reaching across to Malta and Tunisia and finishing in Rome's port at Civitavecchia. The pace is full. Most calls land you within walking distance of something real: Genoa puts the Porto Antico and the medieval caruggi a flat ten to fifteen minutes from the ship, Siracusa docks right on Ortigia, and Palermo's cathedral and street markets are reachable on foot. Smaller ports earn their place too. Palamós sits inside the town itself, where the commercial fleet still lands and sells its catch on the quay. Villefranche tenders you straight into the old town, with a coastal train that puts Nice and Monaco minutes away and lets you run your own day.
This itinerary rewards a traveler who likes to move and wants range over rest. Two of the calls, Livorno for Florence and Civitavecchia for Rome, are gateway ports where the inland city eats most of the day in transit, so commit to one city per stop and reserve your entries before you sail. If you want slow sea days and long stretches of nothing, this is the wrong route. If you want to wake up somewhere new almost every morning and across five countries, it fits.
EXPLORA II is all-suite and all-oceanfront.
The itinerary, port by port
14 calls over 16 nights, Barcelona 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 Barcelona (BCN) 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 →
- Embark
- 2
- 3
- 4 At Sea - Fireworks
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- Disembark
Fares on this departure, decoded
Reading the fare fine print is the job. Here's what this sailing currently carries:
- Invitation to Discover More
- Explora's discovery fare, available across most of the calendar. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
- Founders Fare
- A founding-era fare on a selected set of sailings. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
- Air-Inclusive Fare
- A fare that folds airfare into the voyage price on a smaller set of sailings.
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 →