Spend 45 days cruising from New York to the Mediterranean and back for under $5,800

Holland America Line’s Volendam ship.

If you’re planning a trip to the Mediterranean, consider taking the scenic route.

Holland America Line will take guests from New York to Italy, Spain, Malta and more over 45 days on a new Legendary Voyage, the 2025 Ultimate Mediterranean & Atlantic Passage itinerary. The round-trip cruise will also bring them back stateside, eliminating the need for long-haul flights.

Paul Grigsby, the cruise line’s Vice President of Deployment & Itinerary Planning, said the itinerary “is essentially a survey of the Mediterranean Basin” with both the popular and less visited ports of call – a combination that resonates with guests.

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“They want a good sample of ports that are marquee ports that everyone knows but also places that we go that you wouldn’t always see on an itinerary that may be a little shorter,” he said.

When is the Ultimate Mediterranean and Atlantic Passage cruise?

The cruise will depart on Oct. 7, 2025, on the line’s 1,432-guest Volendam ship.

Where will the cruise sail?

Like the line’s 42-day Mediterranean cruise from Fort Lauderdale departing in November, the sailing was based on a voyage from 100 years earlier on Rotterdam IV. The 2025 cruise, however, even more closely mirrors that 1925 itinerary, in part by sailing from New York, which Grigsby noted is “not one of our typical turn ports.”

Volendam will visit 20 ports, first making its way from the Big Apple to Ponta Delgada in Portugal’s Azores archipelago. Other stops include Lisbon; Cartagena and Barcelona, Spain; Naples in Italy; Piraeus, Greece; and La Goulette in Tunisia.

The itinerary also gives guests extra time in several destinations, with overnight stays in Civitavecchia, Italy, Istanbul, Turkey and Alexandria, Egypt and late departures from Istanbul, Alexandria, Barcelona and Gibraltar.

How long can you be on a cruise? Why some passengers opt to sail for 6 months or longer

How much does the cruise cost?

Available staterooms start at $5,749 per person based on double occupancy. The cost of the fare includes most food on board, drinks such as regular coffee and tea and more.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spend 45 days cruising from New York to the Mediterranean and back for under $5,800