Aegean and Mediterranean Cruises

Posted by Barbara Rogers Jan 9, 2008

Some interesting new cruise routes in southern Europe have been announced recently. Avanti Destinations has added a new 7-day Aegean Discovery package with three nights in Athens and a cruise that visits Mykonos, Santorini, Heraklion and Patmos, as well as Ephesus, in Turkey. The price is low - $about 1300 per person - but the shore stops are quite short – 7 am to noon at Ephesus, and evening stops in Mykonos, Patmos and Santorini. In summer, however, remember that these ports are coolest in the evening. An 8-day itinerary ($1660) adds another night cruising and a full day in Rhodes.

Elegant Cruises, a small line specializing in cultural travel in Europe, offers an enticing Mediterranean itinerary on board the 105-passenger Andrea. It begins in Spain’s Canary Islands with a morning in Lanzarote and continues with two full day Moroccan stops, Cadiz, Motril (for a Granada excursion), Menorca in Spain’s Balearic Islands, Cagliari (on the Italian island of Sardinia), Porto Empedocle (for Agrigento, Sicily) and Valletta in Malta. The $4600 fare includes air from the US. Elegant Cruises is also offering an 8-day cruise in the Azores and a 15-day itinerary from Malta to the Azores, similar to the Lanzarote-Malta itinerary, but with stops in Madeira and several ports in the Azores, instead of the Canaries and Morocco.

Until my recent trip to Andalucia, I wouldn’t have thought of Cadiz as more than a hopping-off-point for a shore excursion to nearby Seville, but I have discovered that Cadiz itself is an interesting city with excellent restaurants and good shopping. Passengers who have already been to Seville might want to consider exploring the historic port of Cadiz instead of taking the all-day shore excursion. Of course, Seville is a city that it’s hard to get too much of.