November 29, 2026 – December 28, 2026 · 28 nights · 20 stops
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey Across Three Seas, from the Aegean to the Atlantic
This is a long arc: 28 nights, 20 calls, eight countries, threading west out of Athens and not doubling back. You open at the Acropolis, where a first-slot timed entry beats the midday crowd and the heat on the Parthenon's shadeless marble. Then the caldera at Santorini, the Knights' honey-limestone Valletta with Caravaggio's largest painting in the cathedral, and the Sicilian noon clock show in Messina's Piazza Duomo. The middle stretch is gateway country: Civitavecchia for Rome, Livorno for Florence, Naples for Pompeii. Past Barcelona the route crosses to North Africa for Ceuta, a Spanish town on the African coast, and Casablanca's Hassan II Mosque built out over the water, then runs the Atlantic islands, Lanzarote's lava fields, Tenerife, La Gomera where Columbus took on water, and Funchal's wicker-sled descent from Monte.
Who it rewards: travelers who want range over rest and do not mind that several of the marquee days are transfers, not strolls. Florence, Rome, and Pompeii each absorb a full day and a train, and the payoff lives inland, not at the pier. If you want a tight, slow Mediterranean loop or beach time, this is the wrong itinerary. If you want the Med and the Atlantic islands in one continuous run, with the homework of timed entries done before you sail, this is built for you.
EXPLORA II is all-suite and all-oceanfront.
The itinerary, port by port
20 calls over 28 nights, Piraeus (Athens) 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 Piraeus (Athens) (ATH) 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 →
Santorini is the rim of a flooded volcanic caldera, and ships anchor inside that drowned crater with the whitewashed towns of Fira and Oia stacked along the cliff edge above. 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 →
Messina sits at the northeast tip of Sicily, across the narrow strait from the Italian mainland, and for most travelers it functions as the gateway to Taormina and Mount Etna rather than a destination in… 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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.