12 Night Cruise from Kiel

About this cruise

Somewhere around day five the ship stops being transport and starts being home. This 12-night sailing from Kiel on September 10, 2027 visits Copenhagen, Le Havre (Paris) and Vigo, with additional stops along the Western Mediterranean. You wind up in Genoa, 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 route threads through 5 countries along the Western Mediterranean coast: Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Most ports give you about 9 hours, so you can do more than just tick off the main sights. As for the ship itself, Costa Diadema: 3,724 guests, 14 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. Being shoulder season helps: golden light, comfortable weather, and shorter queues at the popular spots. Hard to ask for much more than that, honestly.