7 days, round-trip Western Mediterranean from Barcelona

About this cruise

You sail from Barcelona on September 12, 2027 and spend 7 nights visiting Cagliari, Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome), Genoa and Marseille. It's a well-tested route and there's a reason people keep booking it. 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. Hot coastline, hilltop villages, and very good food. That's the Western Med in a sentence. 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 Smeralda: 5,224 guests, 20 decks. Entertainment, dining, and enough space that it never feels cramped. Being shoulder season helps: golden light, comfortable weather, and shorter queues at the popular spots. Hard to ask for much more than that, honestly.