Seven Seas Explorer - Mediterranean Luxury

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 5 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Monte Carlo

   MonacoDepart

   Monaco is two square kilometres of banked hillside, and a cruise call drops you at the bottom of it in Port Hercule. Everything is walkable if you are willing to climb, or you can use the public lifts that thread up through the rock. The appeal is concentrated and unapologetically expensive: the casino, the palace, and a harbour of boats worth more than the ship.

   • The Casino de Monte-Carlo and the square in front of the Hotel de Paris
   • The Musee Oceanographique, built into the cliff face at Monaco-Ville
   • The Prince's Palace and the changing of the guard just before noon
   • Walking the Grand Prix circuit - the tunnel and the Rascasse hairpin are ordinary streets

   Getting ashore

   Larger ships anchor in the bay and tender into Port Hercule while smaller ones come alongside the Quai Rainier III jetty; either way you land in the middle of town.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (May is Grand Prix month - spectacular, but the town is fenced off)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Livorno (Florence/Pisa)

   ItalyPort

   Livorno is a container and ferry port with a canal-laced old quarter called Venezia Nuova, and almost nobody comes for it. The call exists because Florence is about 90 minutes inland and Pisa about 45. Understand what that buys: a Florence excursion is roughly three hours on a coach around four hours in the city, and the Uffizi alone can eat half of that.

   • The Duomo, the Baptistery and Piazza della Signoria in Florence
   • The Uffizi, or the Accademia for Michelangelo's David - pre-booked, or you will not get in
   • The Leaning Tower and the Campo dei Miracoli at Pisa
   • Venezia Nuova's canals and the Mercato Centrale in Livorno itself

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in Livorno's commercial port with a shuttle to Piazza del Municipio; Florence is about 90 minutes away by coach or train and Pisa about 45.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug very hot, and Florence is overwhelmed)

4. Day 4

   Rome (Civitavecchia)

   ItalyPort

   Civitavecchia is a working port town on the Tyrrhenian coast, and it is not Rome - the city is about 80km southeast, roughly 80 minutes each way. Budget for that honestly: a Rome day is some four hours of transit bracketing whatever you actually see. The port has Fort Michelangelo on the quay and good fish-market lunches, a real option if you have done Rome before.

   • St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, with a timed entry booked well ahead
   • The Colosseum and the Roman Forum, a short walk apart on the Termini side
   • The Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on a walking loop of the centro storico
   • Fort Michelangelo and the Terme Taurine Roman baths, for a day that stays in Civitavecchia

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in Civitavecchia and a free shuttle runs to the port gate at Largo della Pace, from where it is a short walk to the station and a 70-80 minute train into Rome.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot, and the Rome queues are brutal)

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Santorini

   GreecePort

   Santorini is a flooded volcanic caldera, and the towns sit on the rim some 300m above where your ship anchors - which is the whole logistical problem. There is no cruise berth, so you tender to Skala below Fira and then queue for a small cable car, walk up 588 steps, or ride a mule. Arrivals are now capped to thin the crush, but the cable car remains the bottleneck in both directions.

   • Oia on the northern tip, and the caldera-edge path that walks there from Fira
   • Akrotiri - a Bronze Age town buried by the eruption and excavated under a modern roof
   • Assyrtiko tasting at the caldera-facing wineries, Santo Wines and Venetsanos
   • A caldera boat to the crater of Nea Kameni and the warm springs at Palea Kameni

   Getting ashore

   Tender to Skala, the old port below Fira, then the cable car up the cliff - queues of an hour each way are normal on busy days, and the alternative is 588 steps. Excursion tenders often land at Athinios instead, where coaches wait.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is hot, packed, and Oia at sunset is shoulder to shoulder)

9. Day 9

   Mykonos

   GreecePort

   Mykonos is the Cyclades at their most commercial - a whitewashed town that has been a fashion and nightlife destination since the 1960s, with prices to match. Most ships berth at Tourlos, about 2km north of Chora, though when the schedule is full some anchor and tender straight into the old harbour. For many passengers the real draw is next door: Delos, the uninhabited sanctuary island, is a 30-minute boat ride.

   • Delos - the ancient sanctuary of Apollo and its Terrace of the Lions, by boat from the old port
   • Little Venice, the Kato Mili windmills, and the church of Panagia Paraportiani
   • Beach time at Psarou or Platis Gialos, or the party beaches at Paradise and Super Paradise
   • Ano Mera and the Panagia Tourliani monastery, away from the crowds

   Getting ashore

   Two options: most large ships dock at Tourlos (New Port) 2km from town, with a paid shuttle bus or water taxi into Chora; when berths are taken, ships anchor and tender into the old harbour, which lands you in town on foot.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-early Oct (Jul-Aug is crowded and expensive, and the meltemi wind can cancel Delos boats)

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Athens (Piraeus)

    GreeceArrive

    Piraeus is Europe's busiest passenger port, and it is a port first and a place second - ferry berths, cranes, and cruise quays spread along a long waterfront. Athens is 10km inland, 30-45 minutes by road in traffic or about 25 minutes on the Line 1 metro. Almost everything you came for sits in one dense square kilometre under the Acropolis, so the day works if you pick a route and commit to it.

    • The Acropolis - the Parthenon, Erechtheion and Propylaia - and the Acropolis Museum below it
    • The Ancient Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus, the best-preserved Doric temple in Greece
    • The National Archaeological Museum, and the marble Panathenaic Stadium
    • Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon, about 70km down the coast

    Getting ashore

    Docked. Terminals sit along Akti Miaouli, and ships shuttle to the port gate; the Line 1 metro ride into Athens is about 25 minutes, but budget close to an hour door to door once the shuttle, the station walk and the queue are counted.

    Best months

    Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (in Jul-Aug heatwaves the Acropolis and the Agora now close from midday until late afternoon)