WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN ENDING IN ISTANBUL ABOARD COSTA PACIFICA with Turkish Airlines, 9 Nights

We meet at Istanbul New Airport 4 hours before departure and, after completing check-in, fly to Milan (MXP) Airport. Upon landing at Milan Airport, we transfer to our ship at the port of Savona.

After breakfast on board, guests who wish may join the optional Rome City Tour organised by our guide at an additional charge. On this full-day tour, we board the coach waiting for us at Civitavecchia Port and reach Rome after a journey of 1 hour and 15 minutes. We then take a panoramic coach tour, with sights including Castel Sant'Angelo, the Tiber River, Borghese Park, Via Veneto, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza della Repubblica, Via Nazionale, the Theatre of Marcellus, Circus Maximus and the Forum sites. We then explore Rome's famous squares on foot. Sights include Piazza della Rotonda, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain, before we finish our tour at the Spanish Steps and enjoy a shopping break. At the end of our tour, we return to the ship. Dinner and overnight accommodation on board.

After breakfast on board, guests who wish may join the optional Pompeii & Naples City Tour organised by our guide at an additional cost. Naples, the famous port of the Campania region, is one of the few European cities where antiquity has never entirely disappeared. Founded by the Greeks and developed and expanded by the Romans, the city became a prized treasure for foreign invaders over the centuries. The legacy of this past is a noisy metropolis with a high crime rate, somewhat unkempt and chaotic, yet well worth visiting. As we explore the human remains and houses in Pompeii, buried beneath the ashes of Mount Vesuvius, you will witness nature’s power and the incredible devastation it can cause. We then visit Naples, where a panoramic coach tour is followed by a visit to the Royal Square. At the end of the tour, we return to our ship. Dinner and overnight on board.

After breakfast on board, guests who wish may join the optional Cefalu tour organised by our guide at an additional charge. We visit the famous fishing town of Cefalu, Sicily's most popular holiday resort, with its enchanting past and colourful landscape blending into the sea and sky. Located east of Palermo on the Tyrrhenian coast, Cefalu is one of Sicily's leading tourist destinations, known for its narrow medieval streets, houses, turquoise sea and long sandy beach. This typical fishing town's main attractions include its famous 12th-century cathedral and historic washhouse dating from Roman times. On our return from Cefalu, we will have time to explore Palermo, depicted in films as the centre of the Sicilian mafia. At the end of the tour, we return to our ship. Dinner and overnight on board.

After breakfast at the hotel, guests who wish may join our optional Mosta & Mdina & Marsaxlokk tour organised by our guide at an additional cost. Our first stop is Mosta, where we visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, which has Europe’s third-largest dome. With an external dome diameter of 56,2 metres, this enormous basilica features interior paintings primarily by Giuseppe Cali. We will see a replica of the 200 kg bomb dropped by Nazi German aircraft during World War 2 in 1942, which pierced the dome and struck the church floor without exploding, and learn about the church’s interior and exterior architecture. We then visit Mdina, Malta’s former capital, which served as a filming location for many scenes in the famous series Game of Thrones. Walking through the narrow streets of this medieval city, known as the Silent City, we will see the magnificent Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the 13th-century Falson Mansion built by the noble Maltese Falson family, the 17th-century Baroque Carmelite Monastery, Vilhena Palace and Mdina’s old houses. We continue our tour with a visit to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. Be sure to admire the charming small fishing boats known as Luzzo, with their distinctive Maltese colours and design. During free time in this lovely fishing village, which also hosts an open-air market, guests who wish can have lunch at local restaurants serving fresh fish and seafood. After our free time, we transfer to our 5* MSC World Europa ship for check-in. Dinner and overnight on board.

We spend the entire day at sea, a perfect opportunity to enjoy this magnificent ship. You can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner at the buffet restaurant, offering a variety of dishes freshly prepared by dedicated chefs to suit every palate, or at your reserved seat in the à la carte restaurant. During the day, you can take yoga and fitness classes, play outdoor tennis, volleyball and basketball, or use the gym equipped with state-of-the-art Technogym equipment, including strength-training machines. After dinner, you can spend time in the ship's lively bars and cafés listening to live music, attend Broadway-style musical theatre shows or try your luck at the casino. Dinner and overnight on board.

After breakfast on board, guests who wish may join the optional Crete Tour organised by the ship at an additional cost. On our tour of Crete, which has always been one of the Mediterranean’s most important islands, sights include Plateia Elefterias (Freedom Square), Agios Titos, Rasih Bey Mansion, Agios Minas Cathedral, the Ottoman Bon Marche Building, the Valide Sultan Mosque Fountain, the Evkaf Building, the Morosini Fountain, the Ottoman Barracks, the Venetian Loggia, the Venetian Harbour and the shipyards. At the end of the tour, we return to our ship. Dinner and overnight on board.

After breakfast on board, guests who wish may join the optional Athens City Tour organised by our guide at an additional cost. Highlights of this tour include the Agora, the Temple of Zeus, the Parliament Building, Syntagma and Omonia Squares, the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister’s Residence, the Historic Olympic Stadium, the National Gallery, the War Museum, the Panepistimiou boulevards, the National Library, the Academy and the University. We then head towards the Acropolis. At the end of the tour, we return to our ship.

We spend the entire day at sea, a perfect opportunity to enjoy this magnificent ship. You can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner at the buffet restaurant, offering a variety of dishes freshly prepared by dedicated chefs to suit every palate, or at your reserved seat in the à la carte restaurant. During the day, you can take yoga and fitness classes, play outdoor tennis, volleyball and basketball, or use the gym equipped with state-of-the-art Technogym equipment, including strength-training machines. After dinner, you can spend time in the ship's lively bars and cafés listening to live music, attend Broadway-style musical theatre shows or try your luck at the casino. Dinner and overnight on board.

After breakfast on board, we complete disembarkation formalities. End of our tour.