Crystal Symphony: 29-Night Barcelona To Copenhagen

Barcelona cruise port is the busiest in the Mediterranean, handling millions of passengers a year across multiple terminals. The city behind it earns that traffic.

Cartagena is a historic port city of about 215,000 people on Spain's southeastern Mediterranean coast, in the Murcia region. Founded by the Carthaginians in 227 BC (as Carthago Nova), the city has been contested by Carthaginians, Romans, Moors, and Spanish kingdoms, and its layered history shows in the archaeological sites scattered through the compact center.

Tangier sits at the northwestern tip of Africa, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and Morocco looks across the Strait of Gibraltar at Spain, just 14 km away. The city has about 1.

Cadiz is the actual cruise port marketed as "Seville (Cadiz)" by cruise lines because Seville, Spain's fourth-largest city, is the primary day-trip draw from this port. Cadiz itself is one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited cities, perched on a narrow peninsula jutting into the Atlantic on Spain's southwestern coast.

Lisbon cruise port is one of the most atmospheric arrivals in Europe. Ships sail up the Tagus River past the 25 de Abril Bridge (a near-twin of San Francisco's Golden Gate) and the Christ the King statue, with the city rising up on seven hills to the north.

Porto is Portugal's second city, sitting on the steep banks of the Douro River near the Atlantic coast. Cruise ships dock at the port of Leixoes, an industrial harbor in the suburb of Matosinhos about 8 kilometers north of Porto's historic center.

Bordeaux is one of France's great cities, a UNESCO-listed urban center on the Garonne River in southwestern France known worldwide for its wine but increasingly recognized for its architecture, food scene, and cultural institutions. The Bordeaux cruise port is unusual: ocean-going cruise ships dock at the industrial port facility at Le Verdon-sur-Mer at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, about 100 km from Bordeaux city center, or occasionally at Bassens or Pauillac closer to the city.

Bordeaux is one of France's great cities, a UNESCO-listed urban center on the Garonne River in southwestern France known worldwide for its wine but increasingly recognized for its architecture, food scene, and cultural institutions. The Bordeaux cruise port is unusual: ocean-going cruise ships dock at the industrial port facility at Le Verdon-sur-Mer at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, about 100 km from Bordeaux city center, or occasionally at Bassens or Pauillac closer to the city.

Paris (Le Havre) cruise port is the gateway from Northern European cruise itineraries to Paris and Normandy. Le Havre itself is a port city on the Normandy coast where the Seine River meets the English Channel, about 200 kilometers northwest of Paris.

Zeebrugge is a North Sea port about 15 km from Bruges, one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities. Ships dock at Zeebrugge, but the destination is Bruges: a city of 120,000 people whose medieval center survived the centuries virtually intact because the city's commercial importance faded after the Zwin river silted up in the 15th century, and nobody had a reason to tear anything down.

Oslo is Norway's capital, home to about 700,000 people in a city wrapped around the head of the Oslofjord with forested hills rising on every side. The city has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades, with the harbor district rebuilt from industrial docks into a waterfront of museums, restaurants, and public spaces anchored by the angular white marble Opera House.

Copenhagen cruise port is the main cruise gateway to Scandinavia and one of the most important embarkation ports for Baltic and Norwegian fjord itineraries. The city has three cruise terminals.