The Mediterranean is a popular cruise destination, and offers many different itineraries. If you want a no fly cruise from the UK they are usually between 14 and 17 nights in duration, but they can range from 12 nights up to around 30 nights. Fly cruises from the UK to the Mediterranean range from 4 or 5 nights up to around 14 nights.
The cruise lines generally classify their Mediterranean cruises as ‘Western Mediterranean’, ‘Central Mediterranean’, ‘Southern Mediterranean’ or ‘Eastern Mediterranean’. However, they don’t all use the same criteria, and it gets more confusing as a cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean is very likely to call at a Western Mediterranean port on the way there from the UK and another on the way back. We have therefore split the ports of call into two sections, and list below some of the main ports in each.
Western Mediterranean
Barcelona, Palma, Mahon, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Livorno (for Pisa and Florence), Malaga, Naples (for Pompeii and Capri), Villefranche (for Nice and Monte Carlo) and Genoa
Eastern Mediterranean
Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Ephesus, Valletta, Rhodes, Alexandria (for Cairo), Istanbul, Piraeus (for Athens), Mykonos, Limassol, Messina, Ashdod and Haifa
Cruise Lines
For a no fly cruise from the UK, the main operators would include: –
- P&O Cruises
- Cunard
- Celebrity Cruises
- Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
- Royal Caribbean International
- Cruise & Maritime Voyages
- Holland America Line
- Swan Hellenic
- Voyages of Discovery
- Princess Cruises.
Fly cruises to the Mediterranean are also available from Disney Cruises, Silversea, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Thomson, Azamara Club Cruises and Star Clippers.
(Page updated April 2012)