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Mediterranean

The Mediterranean's irresistible seductive siren's song casts an enchantment over your very soul. The treasure box sparkles with your heart's desires from nature's glories to the antiquities of lore. Even if you are no student of history, you will leave a part of yourself here after walking in the footsteps of heroes, artists, architects and people who built the foundations of Western Civilization. See it a thousand times and you still yearn for more.

Select from the Greek Islands, Ancient Turkey, the Holy Lands or cruise the Western section and include Spain, France and Italy. An extended Mediterranean cruise is a vacation that combines ports from both the Western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean, typically beginning in Barcelona and ending in Greece or Turkey or of course in reverse.

Cruise types

The Mediterranean has cruises from every major cruise line and quite a few of the specialty operators too. While there are many cruise types and cruise lengths to choose from the major distinction is whether a cruise is an Eastern or Western Mediterranean cruise or an extended cruise.

The Eastern Mediterranean is the area that covers Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Adriatic Enjoy the culture and history of Italy, especially Venice which is simply stunning and completely unique.See the whitewashed splendor of the Greek Isles and discover the antiquity of Classical Greece. Wonder at the sheer beauty of the Dalmatian coast and be amazed by Istanbul who's history dates from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire.

There is just so much to see and do and such a range of cruise offerings that it pays to do the research before choosing a cruise. The Western Mediterranean is the area from the west coast of Italy and covers France, Spain and North Africa including the Atlantic coast of Morocco and the Canary Islands. Enjoy the history and culture of Florence, the excitement of Monte Carlo, the architecture of Barcelona and the Arabic heritage of Morocco. Extended Mediterranean cruises are more than just a combination of east or western Mediterranean cruises. The size of the Med and the range of major ports allows cruise lines to offer a huge range of 10 to 14 day (and longer) itineraries. Again research into what is available is vital for people looking for longer cruises here. Many cruise lines position ships here for the northern summer so Mediterranean cruises combined with an Atlantic crossing are popular in Spring and Autumn. Additionally cruise lines also move ships up to the Baltic in mid summer so there are a range of repositioning cruises to and from Scandinavia to consider as well.

Cruise seasons

While cruises are available year round the main season is from March to October to take advantage of the longer days and warmer weather.

Main Ports

Cruises depart from most of the major ports but they key embark ports include Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Rome (Civitavecchia), Venice, Athens and Istanbul. Many cruises also start and finish in the UK with Southampton being the major port.