Ancient Hearth – Ephesus, Athens & Barcelona

About this cruise

The kind of trip where you lose track of what day it is, and nobody cares. 14 nights from Civitavecchia (Rome) on July 16, 2028, visiting Naples, Palermo and Souda (Chania), with additional stops along the Eastern Mediterranean. You get off in Barcelona, which is a good excuse to tack on a few days on land. 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 Eastern Mediterranean route takes in Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Montenegro and Spain, 5 countries, and the differences show up in the food, the architecture, and the mood. Most ports give you about 11 hours, so you can do more than just tick off the main sights. As for the ship itself, Sun Princess joined the Princess Cruises's lineup in 2024. Still has that new-ship feel. 14 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. It's peak season, so the weather is at its best and the ship will be full. That's part of the fun. 14 nights of not thinking about anything except where to eat next. That's the pitch.