Seven Seas Splendor: 7-Night Mediterranean - Western

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, a 6.7-square-kilometer enclave dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 426-meter limestone monolith that guards the western entrance to the Mediterranean.