Star Explorer: 7-Night Mediterranean

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.

Genoa cruise port is one of the main embarkation points for western Mediterranean itineraries, particularly for MSC and Costa Cruises, which both have roots here. The city is the capital of Liguria and the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, pesto, and focaccia, and it has a grittier, more working-class feel than the polished Italian cities most tourists flock to.

Nice is the capital of the French Riviera, a Mediterranean city of about 340,000 people wedged between the Maritime Alps and the Cote d'Azur coastline. Cruise ships anchor in the bay at Villefranche-sur-Mer, a small harbor town about 6 km east of Nice, or occasionally dock at Nice's own port.