12 days, one-way from Piraeus-Athens to Marseille

About this cruise

You won't run out of things to do on a trip this long, but you also won't feel like you have to do any of them. 12 nights from Piraeus (Athens) on September 8, 2027, visiting Valletta, Catania and Taranto, with additional stops along the Western Mediterranean. You wind up in Marseille, so it's worth planning a night or two there. There's a stretch of back-to-back port days, so those days are busy, but the sea days around them give you time to recharge. The Western Mediterranean route takes in Malta, Italy and France, 3 countries, and the differences show up in the food, the architecture, and the mood. Most ports give you about 10 hours, so you can do more than just tick off the main sights. As for the ship itself, Costa Serena: 3,014 guests, 13 decks. Entertainment, dining, and enough space that it never feels cramped. 12 nights is long enough to build a routine on board: favourite restaurant, favourite deck chair, favourite people. It starts to feel like a floating village. If you like having options (restaurants, bars, activities, entertainment), a big ship delivers that. Being shoulder season helps: golden light, comfortable weather, and shorter queues at the popular spots. Hard to ask for much more than that, honestly.