Venice is a major cruise ship hubs in the Mediterranean, with over a thousand cruise ship movements, and a million cruise passengers per year. Currently Venice is the 13th busiest cruise port in the world, and the 3rd busiest in Europe.

Cruises from Piraeus leave for a multitude of destinations in the Greek Islands and beyond. It's 10km from Piraeus to Athens, and by train the journey time is around 45 minutes. Note that the Greek spelling of Piraeus is Pireas, and all signs show the Greek name.

Civitavecchia is a popular port of departure for a number of cruiselines including Costa, Royal Caribbean, Oceania, Celebrity, Seabourn, and Regent Seven Seas. The prospective cruiser has a good variety of choice, with itineraries heading west to places like Barcelona and Sardinia, and east to Istanbul and the Holy Land.