9 nights, Piraeus (Athens) to Barcelona
Explora's name for it: A Journey to Santorini, Sicily & the Riviera
Nine nights, nine ports, no sea days. This is a one-way run that starts at the Acropolis and ends inside Barcelona, and it never sits still. From Athens you cross to Santorini, where the ship anchors inside a flooded volcanic caldera and tenders you to the foot of the cliff towns of Fira and Oia. Then west: Valletta, the honey-limestone capital the Knights of St John walled above Grand Harbour, with Caravaggio's largest painting in its cathedral. The Italian stretch is the heart of it. Messina opens onto Taormina and Etna, Naples drops you a ten-minute walk from the historic center or sends you on to Pompeii, and Civitavecchia and Livorno are the gateways to Rome and Florence by regional train.
Be honest with yourself about pace. Three of these calls (Civitavecchia, Livorno, Messina) are working ports where the real destination is an hour or more inland, so the day gets eaten by the transfer and you commit to one city, done well. If you want beach days and slow mornings, this is the wrong route. It rewards travelers who like dense city-hopping, who book timed entries before sailing, and who treat Villefranche, the rare Riviera call where you walk off into the old town, as the breather.
EXPLORA II is all-suite, all-oceanfront. Send me your dates and I'll lay out the deck options.
The itinerary, port by port
9 calls over 9 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 →
- Embark
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- 4
- 5
- 6
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- 8
- Disembark
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.
- Spontaneous Summer Invitation
- A near-term fare on a small set of summer-season 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 →