Scarlet Lady: 12-Night Mediterranean from Rome (Civitavecchia)

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.

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.

Naples cruise port is one of the most popular stops on Mediterranean itineraries, and it's easy to see why. The city sits on the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius looming behind it, and it serves as the gateway to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and Sorrento.

Palermo cruise port drops you into one of the most chaotic, layered, and rewarding cities in the Mediterranean. This is the capital of Sicily, sitting on the northwestern coast of the island along a gulf facing the Tyrrhenian Sea.

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.

Rhodes is the largest of Greece's Dodecanese islands, sitting in the far southeastern Aegean Sea just 18 kilometers from the Turkish coast. The Rhodes cruise port is in the city of Rhodes on the island's northern tip, where ships dock right next to one of the best-preserved medieval old towns in Europe.

Mykonos cruise port is one of the most instantly recognizable stops in the Greek islands. Whitewashed cube buildings cascade down hills to the Aegean Sea, blue-domed churches punctuate the skyline, and windmills stand sentinel on the ridge above Mykonos Town (Chora).

Santorini cruise port is one of the most visually striking arrivals in cruising. Ships anchor in the flooded caldera of a volcanic crater, with the whitewashed villages of Fira and Oia perched dramatically 1,000 feet above on the cliff edge.

Kusadasi cruise port is Turkey's busiest and the primary gateway to Ephesus, one of the most significant ancient Greek and Roman cities in the world. The port sits on Turkey's central Aegean coast, about 95 kilometers south of Izmir, with ships docking at the Ege Ports cruise terminal right in the middle of town.