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EXPLORA II · Mediterranean & Western Europe

18 nights, Barcelona to Barcelona

December 9, 2026 – December 28, 2026 · 18 nights · 12 stops · round-trip

Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey of Atlantic Crossings & Southern Light

Eighteen nights, twelve calls, out and back from Barcelona, with no full sea days on the run. The arc swings down from Catalonia to the North African coast, out into the Atlantic to the Canaries and Madeira, then back up the Iberian rim. The pace is steady rather than rushed, with most ports walkable or a short shuttle from the berth. The hooks are real and varied: Gaudí's Sagrada Família and the Gothic Quarter alleys in Barcelona, a Spanish tapas town sitting on the African continent in Ceuta, the Hassan II Mosque rising over the water in Casablanca, the Timanfaya lava fields above Arrecife, the well in San Sebastián de La Gomera where Columbus loaded water before 1492, and Funchal's wicker toboggan down from Monte.

This itinerary rewards travelers who want range over rest: four countries, Roman theaters, Moorish fortresses, and volcanic islands, with a different character at nearly every call. It is not for anyone after a slow, do-nothing stretch of pure sea time, since the calendar stays full. Note one current limit at Gibraltar: the cable car is out of service until 2027, so the Rock means a taxi tour or, on a clouded Levanter day, a dolphin boat from Marina Bay instead.

EXPLORA II is all-suite and all-oceanfront. Send me your dates and the suite tier you are considering.

Barcelona (open port guide)BarcelonaCeuta (open port guide)Casablanca (open port guide)Arrecife (Lanzarote) (open port guide)Santa Cruz de Tenerife (open port guide)San Sebastián de La Gomera (open port guide)Funchal (Madeira) (open port guide)Lisbon (open port guide)Gibraltar (open port guide)Málaga (open port guide)Alicante (open port guide)Ibiza (open port guide)Ibiza

The itinerary, port by port

12 calls over 18 nights, round-trip from Barcelona. 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 →

  1. Embark
    Barcelona

    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 →

  2. 2
    Ceuta

    Ceuta is a Spanish city on the North African coast, a small peninsula bordering Morocco across the strait from Gibraltar. Port guide →

  3. 3
    Casablanca

    Casablanca is Morocco's commercial capital, a big Atlantic port city whose case for the day rests almost entirely on one building: the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world, with a minaret… Port guide →

  4. 4
    Arrecife (Lanzarote)

    Arrecife is the working capital of Lanzarote, the easternmost of the main Canary Islands, and the gateway to a volcanic landscape unlike anywhere else in Europe. Port guide →

  5. 5
    Santa Cruz de Tenerife

    Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, a working Spanish city under a volcanic skyline rather than a beach resort, with a walkable old center and Calatrava's wave-shaped Auditorio on… Port guide →

  6. 6
    San Sebastián de La Gomera

    San Sebastian is the small capital of La Gomera, the second-smallest Canary Island, and it is where Columbus took on water and supplies before the 1492 Atlantic crossing. Port guide →

  7. 7
    Funchal (Madeira)

    Funchal is the capital of Madeira, a Portuguese volcanic island in the Atlantic, and the port sits a short walk from a working city built up a steep amphitheater of hills. Port guide →

  8. 8
    Lisbon

    Lisbon spreads over hills above the wide Tagus estuary, and the cruise terminal sits at the foot of Alfama, the city's oldest quarter. Port guide →

  9. 9
    Gibraltar

    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 →

  10. 10
    Málaga

    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 →

  11. 11
    Alicante

    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 →

  12. Disembark
    Ibiza

    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 →

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 →


Keep exploring

Want this voyage priced for you?

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 two hours. Best available price, and I make it worth more.

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