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EXPLORA I · Grand Journeys

22 nights, San Juan to Barcelona

March 1, 2027 – March 24, 2027 · 22 nights · 11 stops

Explora's name for it: A Grand Journey into Island Whispers & Beauty-Rich Shores

Twenty-two nights, eleven stops, San Juan to Barcelona one way. It opens as a slow Caribbean island-hop and ends as an Atlantic crossing into Iberia, so the back half changes character entirely. The early run is beach-and-island work, much of it on the ship's own doorstep: in San Juan you walk straight off the pier into the old walled quarter, climbing the Paseo de la Princesa to El Morro; at Virgin Gorda you tender in and scramble the house-size granite boulders of The Baths down to Devil's Bay; Road Bay lands you by tender onto Sandy Ground beach itself; Grand Turk puts a reef wall steps from the dock. Then the rhythm shifts. After Miami the ship crosses to Funchal, where the signature day pairs the old town with a cable car up to Monte and a wicker toboggan ride down, before Cádiz, Málaga's Mercado de Atarazanas and Alcazaba, and Barcelona's Sagrada Família.

This rewards travelers who want the contrast of two regions in one sailing and don't mind a long ocean leg between them. If you want a tight, port-dense week or only the Caribbean, this is too much itinerary; pick a shorter one. The Iberian ports are walkable; Barcelona's terminal is not, so plan the shuttle.

EXPLORA I is all-suite, all-oceanfront.

San Juan (open port guide)San JuanSt. John's (Antigua) (open port guide)Road Bay (open port guide)Spanish Town (Virgin Gorda) (open port guide)Grand Turk (open port guide)Miami (open port guide)Philipsburg (open port guide)Funchal (Madeira) (open port guide)Cadiz (open port guide)Málaga (open port guide)Barcelona (open port guide)Barcelona

The itinerary, port by port

11 calls over 22 nights, San Juan to 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 San Juan (SJU) 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
    San Juan

    San Juan's old quarter is a walled Spanish colonial town on a headland, founded in the early 1500s, with two stone forts run by the U.S. Port guide →

  2. 2
  3. 3
    Road Bay

    Road Bay is Anguilla's main harbor, sheltering the small fishing village of Sandy Ground on a wide curve of pale sand. Port guide →

  4. 4
    Spanish Town (Virgin Gorda)

    Spanish Town is the small main settlement on Virgin Gorda, but the reason the day exists is a few miles south of it: The Baths, a stretch of coast where house-size granite boulders pile into grottoes,… Port guide →

  5. 5
    Grand Turk

    Grand Turk is the small, low-rise capital island of the Turks and Caicos, a former salt-raking colony of donkeys, ponds, and pastel Bermudian houses that never urbanized. Port guide →

  6. 6
    Miami

    Miami is the busiest cruise port in the United States, set on Dodge Island in Biscayne Bay a mile or two off downtown. Port guide →

  7. 7
    Philipsburg

    Philipsburg is the Dutch-side capital of Sint Maarten, a narrow strip of town wedged between Great Bay and a salt pond. Port guide →

  8. 8
    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 →

  9. 9
    Cadiz

    Cádiz sits on a narrow Atlantic peninsula in Andalusia and is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, a compact old town ringed by sea on three sides. 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. Disembark
    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 →

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.
Invitation to Discover More
Explora's discovery fare, available across most of the calendar. 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 I, 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 →


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