Oceania Marina: 47-Night World

London (Southampton) cruise port is the busiest cruise departure point in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Northern Europe. The port sits in Southampton, a city on England's southern coast about 80 miles southwest of London.

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.

Rotterdam is Europe's largest port city and a major cruise embarkation point in the Netherlands, located in the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt river delta about 80 km south of Amsterdam. The cruise terminal (Rotterdam Cruise Terminal) is at the Wilhelminakade on the south bank of the Nieuwe Maas river, in the shadow of the Erasmus Bridge.

Hamburg is Germany's second-largest city and its biggest port, sitting about 100 kilometers inland from the North Sea on the Elbe River. The city serves as a major embarkation point for Northern European, Norwegian fjord, and Baltic Sea cruises, with a growing role as a port of call on repositioning and British Isles itineraries.

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.

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.

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.

Malaga cruise port is the main gateway to Spain's Costa del Sol and Andalusia. The city sits on Spain's southern coast, about 130 kilometers west of Granada and 50 kilometers east of Marbella.

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.

Ibiza is one of Spain's Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean, about 150 km off the coast of Valencia. The cruise port is in Ibiza Town (Eivissa), on the southeast coast of the island.

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.

Valencia cruise port is Spain's third-largest cruise port (after Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca) and a rising star on Western Mediterranean itineraries. Valencia sits on the east coast of Spain about 350 kilometers south of Barcelona and 350 kilometers east of Madrid.

Palma de Mallorca cruise port is one of the busiest in the Mediterranean and the main cruise gateway to the Balearic Islands. Palma sits on the south coast of Mallorca, the largest of the Balearics, about 250 kilometers south of Barcelona.

Alicante is a mid-sized Spanish city of about 330,000 people on the Costa Blanca in southeastern Spain. It's a working Mediterranean city that happens to have a beautiful waterfront, a hilltop castle, and some of the best weather in Europe.

Marseille cruise port is France's busiest and one of the major stops on western Mediterranean itineraries. The city is France's second largest and its oldest, founded by Greek sailors over 2,600 years ago, and it has a rougher, more authentic edge than the polished Riviera towns further east.

Monaco is a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera, just 2 square kilometers in size with about 39,000 residents, making it the second-smallest country in the world. Monte Carlo, its most famous district, is synonymous with wealth, casinos, and Formula 1 racing.

La Spezia is a working Italian naval and commercial city on the Ligurian coast, but cruise passengers know it primarily as the gateway to Cinque Terre, the five colorful fishing villages clinging to the cliffs along a rugged stretch of coastline just north of the city. The La Spezia cruise port sits at the edge of the city center, a short walk from the train station that connects directly to the Cinque Terre villages.

Florence (Livorno) cruise port is the main Tuscan stop on Mediterranean itineraries, but it's worth being clear about what you're actually docking at. The port is Livorno, a working industrial city on the Ligurian coast, about 85 kilometers west of Florence.

Rome's cruise port is in Civitavecchia, a working port town about 80 kilometers northwest of the city. That distance is the single most important thing to understand about this stop.

Valletta cruise port is one of the most visually dramatic arrivals on any Mediterranean itinerary. Ships sail into the Grand Harbour, a deep natural inlet flanked by honey-colored limestone walls that rise straight out of the water, with Valletta itself perched on the peninsula above.

Athens cruise port is in Piraeus, a busy port city about 10 kilometers southwest of central Athens. Piraeus is its own city, not just a terminal, and it handles cruise ships, island ferries, and commercial traffic all at once.