Discover the culture and colour of Civitavecchia, an MSC Mediterranean Cruises destination. This Italian gem is an enjoyable flight from many European and non-European cities. Celebrated for its 16th-century Michelangelo Fort, ancient Taurine Baths, and marble Vanvitelli fountain, the port is a convenient starting point for visiting Rome, Italy’s regal and romantic capital.

Messina may well be your first sight of Sicily, and – from your MSC holiday cruise ship – it’s a fine one, the glittering town spread up the hillside beyond its sickle-shaped Mediterranean harbour.
On a shore excursion you can discover Messina’s most important monument, the Duomo, which epitomizes the city’s phoenix-like ability to re-create itself from the ashes of its last disaster. It’s the reconstruction of a twelfth-century cathedral erected by Roger II, one of a series of great Norman churches of Sicily that include the sumptuous cathedrals of Palermo and Cefalù. The Duomo’s detached campanile, or bell tower, claims to be the largest astronomical clock in the world, and puts on its best show at noon every day, when a bronze lion (Messina’s ancient emblem) unleashes a mighty roar over the city that can be quite alarming if you’re not expecting it!
Just back from the Duomo, the truncated section of the twelfth-century Chiesa Annunziata dei Catalani squats below pavement level, and is Messina’s only surviving example of Arab/Norman church-building.
When you are cruising the Mediterranean Sea with MSC Cruises, the most obvious excursion from Messina is to the almost too charming hill town of Taormina, spectacularly located on a rocky bluff between the Ionian Sea and the soaring peak of Mount Etna, whose summit with its bleak lava wilderness is one of the most memorable landscapes Italy has to offer.
Once the beloved retreat of poets and writers, Taormina is now the most illustrious resort on the entire island, captivating its visitors with its famous ancient theatre, grand hotels and engaging small-town charm.

UNESCO aizsargātā Valletas osta, Maltas salas galvaspilsēta, ir viena no pieturām, kas noteikti jāapskata katram Vidusjūras kruīzam.

Jūs varat apbrīnot šo ostu, ko 16. gadsimta otrajā pusē uzcēla francūzis Žans de la Valets un ko veidojis Jeruzalemes Svētā Jāņa reliģiskais un militārais ordenis, no sava MSC kuģa pat pirms izkāpšanas. Vairāk nekā 300 pieminekļu, kas paceļas nedaudz vairāk nekā puskvadrātkilometra platībā, padara šo vietu ar vienu no vislielākajiem vēsturiskajiem apskates objektiem, ko apmeklēt kruīza laikā, nemaz nerunājot par citām atrakcijām, piemēram, tās pludmalēm, piejūras vietām un restorāniem.
Ekskursiju uz salu var sākt tieši no tās galvaspilsētas Valletas, kas kruīza apmeklētājus apbur ar slavenajiem Maltas balkoniem, kas rotā namu fasādes tās vecajā kvartālā. Sv. Jāņa līdzkatedrāle ir viena no Maltas lielākajām tūristu apskates vietām, kuru ieskauj daudzas baznīcas, kuru salu iedzīvotāji apliecina, ka to ir tikpat daudz kā dienu gadā.
Savukārt Nacionālajā arheoloģijas muzejā glabājas salā atrastie aizvēsturiskie artefakti. Pie Lielās ostas var apmeklēt Auberge de Castille pazemes ejas un skaisto Baracca dārzu, no kura paveras skats uz ostu; naktī, kad pilsētas vārti aizvērās, tās portiķi kalpoja par ceļotāju patvērumu. Lai izbaudītu Maltas seno muižniecības dzīvi, apmeklējiet Casa Rocca Piccola.
16. gadsimta Palazzo ir 9. marķīza De Piro rezidence, un tajā ir antīkas mēbeles un bumbu patvertne, kas celta aizsardzībai pret sprādzieniem Otrā pasaules kara laikā. Filmas Popeye filmēšanas vieta joprojām ir skatāma no Maltas lielākās pludmales, kā arī Melliehas Dievmātes svētnīcas ar fresku, kurā attēlota Vissvētākā Jaunava Marija ar Kristu; saskaņā ar tradīciju šīs bizantiešu stila freskas autors ir svētais Lūks, kurš kopā ar svēto Pāvilu cieta kuģa avārijā uz salas.

With its seafront cafés and ancient alleyways, shouting stallholders and travellers on the move, bustling, exuberant Split is one of Croatia’s and the Mediterranean’s most compelling cities, it’s easy to see this feeling when you step aground from your MSC cruise.

It has a unique historical heritage too, having grown out of the palace built here by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in 295AD. The palace remains Split’s central ingredient, having been gradually transformed into a warren of houses, tenements, churches and chapels by the various peoples who came to live here after Diocletian’s successors had departed.
Adapted long ago to serve as Split’s town centre, Diocletian’s Palace is certainly not an archaeological “site”. Although set-piece buildings such as Diocletian’s mausoleum (now the cathedral) and the Temple of Jupiter (now a baptistery) still remain, other aspects of the palace have been tinkered with so much by successive generations that it is no longer recognizable as an ancient Roman structure. Best place to start exploring with an MSC excursion the seaward side of the palace is Split’s broad and lively Riva.
Running along the palace’s southern facade, into which shops, cafés and a warren of tiny flats have been built, the Riva is where a large part of the city’s population congregates day and night to meet friends, catch up on gossip or idle away an hour or two in a café. Nearly everything worth seeing in Split is concentrated in the compact Old Town behind the waterfront Riva, made up in part of the various remains and conversions of Diocletian’s Palace itself, and the medieval additions to the west of it. You can walk across this area in about ten minutes, although it would take a lifetime to explore all its nooks and crannies.

Venice, a romantic MSC Mediterranean Cruises destination, is an artisan masterpiece. The city is built on 118 small islands, separated by canals, in a shallow lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. This UNESCO World Heritage Site overflows with beauty – from the gondola-lined canals and ancient marble palaces to historical architectural feats like St. Mark’s Basilica and the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. Visiting Venice is like being in a fabled land, a scintillating mix of culture, history, and water.