December 28, 2026 – January 14, 2027 · 17 nights · 14 stops
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey from a Riviera New Year to the Mediterranean’s Deep Soul
The itinerary, port by port
14 calls over 17 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 →
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 →
Naples is a dense, loud, deeply layered Italian city where the cruise terminal sits at the foot of the historic center rather than out in an industrial port. Port guide →
Syracuse was once the most powerful Greek city in the western Mediterranean, a rival to Athens, and the day splits cleanly between its two halves: the ancient Neapolis park on the mainland, with a Greek… Port guide →
Valletta is the fortified 16th-century capital the Knights of St John built on a peninsula above Grand Harbour, one of the deepest natural harbors in the Mediterranean. Port guide →
La Goulette is the port town at the mouth of the Lake of Tunis, and it is the gateway to ancient Carthage, the medina of Tunis, and the blue-and-white cliff village of Sidi Bou Said. Port guide →
Palermo is Sicily's capital, a layered city where Norman, Arab, Byzantine, and Baroque builders all left their mark on the same streets. 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.