Silver Dawn: 18-Night Mediterranean

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.

Kotor cruise port is one of the most visually spectacular arrivals in the Adriatic. Ships sail through a deep fjord-like bay (Boka Kotorska) surrounded by limestone mountains that rise steeply from the water, with the walled medieval town of Kotor tucked at the base.

Dubrovnik cruise port is the southern gateway to Croatia's Adriatic coast and one of the most visually striking stops in the Mediterranean. Ships dock at Port Gruž, about 3 kilometers northwest of the Old Town, with the walled medieval city perched on a rocky peninsula jutting into the sea.

Trieste sits at the northeastern corner of Italy, pressed against the Slovenian border at the head of the Adriatic Sea. The city has about 200,000 residents and a distinctly Central European character that sets it apart from other Italian cruise ports.

Ravenna is a mid-sized city of about 160,000 people in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, sitting on the Adriatic coast south of Venice. The city served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogothic Kingdom, and the Byzantine Exarchate, leaving it with the finest collection of early Christian and Byzantine mosaics anywhere outside Istanbul.

Salerno is the eastern gateway to the Amalfi Coast, one of Italy's most celebrated stretches of coastline. Cruise ships dock at the Stazione Marittima in Salerno's port, a short walk from the city center and the starting point for trips along the legendary coastal road to Amalfi, Positano, and Ravello.