Links to Topics:
- Venice, Italy
- Bari, Italy
- Katakolon (Olympia)
- Izmir (Ephesus)
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Ports of Call
One of the best reason to pick a cruise is the ports of call. The MSC Magnifica will debut in Europe in 2010 in the Eastern Mediterranean with these exciting destinations: 
- Venice, Italy
- Bari , Italy
- Katakolon (Olympia), Greece
- Izmir (Ephesus), Turkey
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Of these ports, I have already been to Venice 3 times and Olympia once. My DH and I together have been to these places during our honeymoon 10 years ago so it is nice to revisit to get a feel for the changes since then. We visited Greece in July. It was burning HOT so I expect it would not be any different this time when we visit it at the end of July! The rest of the ports are supposed to be beautiful (in fact, National Geographic listed 2 places in Istanbul as one of the 50 new wonders of the world). We are very excited to go!
My only concern about sailing to Greece is that both of the times that I've been to Greece (once in July and once in September), the sea was rough! We took night ferries from Santorini and Mykonos back to Athens. Each time, I really had to pray hard for safety!