20 nights, Civitavecchia (Rome) to Lisbon
Explora's name for it: A Journey Across the Mediterranean’s Edge & Into the Atlantic
Twenty nights, seventeen stops, Rome to Lisbon, with almost a port every day. This is a one-way crossing that starts dense in the Mediterranean, swings down the North African coast, and finishes out in the Atlantic islands. The early run is classic and walkable: Naples drops you a ten-minute walk from the historic center, or onto the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii if you go straight there at opening. Palermo docks near a Norman, Arab, and Baroque core you cover on foot, where the move is to eat arancine and panelle standing up at the markets, not seated. Then the character shifts hard. La Goulette is your gateway to Carthage and Tunis, Tangier rewards a petit taxi up to the kasbah and a walk down through the medina, and Casablanca is essentially one extraordinary building, the Hassan II Mosque, which you can only see inside on a fixed tour slot. The Atlantic stretch closes it out: Lanzarote's Timanfaya lava fields, La Palma as the world's first Starlight Reserve, Funchal's cable car up to Monte and wicker toboggan down, and finally Lisbon, where you step off into the Alfama tangle.
This itinerary rewards a curious, port-driven traveler who wants range over depth and does not need a single beach week. The pace is relentless, with back-to-back calls and few real rest days, so if you want to slow down or settle into one region, pick a shorter sailing. North Africa adds friction worth knowing about: Algiers needs a visa and licensed-guide logistics confirmed with the ship well ahead, and several calls reward planning over wandering. If you like working out a city on foot and reading a coastline change under you, this is your route.
Explora II is all-suite and all-oceanfront.
The itinerary, port by port
17 calls over 20 nights, Civitavecchia (Rome) to Lisbon. 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 Civitavecchia (Rome) (FCO) 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
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8 Tarragona
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15 Santa Cruz de La Palma
- 16
- Disembark
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.
- 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 →