Arrive in Barcelona and settle into your stateroom. Attend a welcome dinner as the ship sets sail.

The city of Valencia is famous as the site where El Cid, Spain’s national hero, battled the Moors. La Lonja de la Seda (the Silk Exchange), a cluster of late Gothic-style buildings constructed between 1482 and 1548, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You might also want to take in the Valencia Cathedral, the Torres de Serranos and Torres de Quart (historic city gates), and the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts & Sciences), a cultural and architectural complex. The city where paella, Spain’s most iconic dish, was invented, Valencia is also a lively modern city with vibrant shopping, restaurants, beaches, and nightlife, as you’ll discover.

Located on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Spain, Cartagena once served as the Iberian capital for the brilliant Phoenician/Carthaginian military commander Hannibal. In the city’s medieval old town, find narrow bustling streets lined with shops and restaurants. Other highlights of the city include the prototype of a submarine by the inventor Isaac Peral, the National Museum of Marine Archaeology, and many splendid Roman ruins, including an amphitheatre.

Located on the southern coast of Spain, Málaga is one of the world’s oldest cities, as well as the capital city of the Costa del Sol and the gateway to beautiful Andalucía. You will have a full day to enjoy its wonders. Perhaps you’ll visit the Museo Picasso (Picasso Museum), to view masterpieces by artist Pablo Picasso, who was born here. Admire La Manquita (literally, “little one-armed lady”) Cathedral, or explore the Alcazaba, a 15th-century Moorish fortress. Málaga also boasts the ruins of a fine Roman theater and a famous bull ring. Or perhaps you’ll simply relax and enjoy something else the city is famous for: a pleasant climate that averages 320 sunny days a year.

Encompassing only about 2.25 square miles and rising to a height of roughly 1,400 feet, Gibraltar is one of the world’s most famous landmarks. It is sometimes called the “Meeting Place of the Continents” for its location in the western Mediterranean, less than eight nautical miles off the northern coast of Africa. The most famous residents of the Rock are not people, but rather its Barbary apes—tailless monkeys that are the only free-ranging primates in Europe. Legend has it that when the apes leave Gibraltar, the Rock will cease to be British.

Situated in the Spanish province of Andalucía and surrounded almost entirely by water, Cádiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain and arguably the oldest in Europe. The city served as the launchpoint for two of Christopher Columbus’s four voyages to the New World, and its urban plan served as a model of many fortified colonial cities in the New World. While here, you might visit the Old Town with its historic fortress, the Castillo San Sebastian, and famous cathedrals, including Santa Cruz, San Felipe Neri, and Oratorio de la Santa Cueva, where three paintings by Goya are hung. You might also explore the newer part of the city, with its elegant boulevards, modern buildings, and parks with exotic plants rumored to be descended from species brought back to Spain by Columbus.

Located on the sun-splashed southern coast of Portugal, the Algarve region boasts an average of more than 300 sunny days a year and more than 100 of the finest golden beaches in Europe. Amid this charming landscape of whitewashed villages and almond groves lies Portimão, the largest town in the western Algarve. Set on the banks of the Arade River, Portimão features colorful architecture, as well as excellent shopping and an abundance of restaurants and cafés. Perhaps you’ll also relax on one of the many beaches here, which include the Praia da Rocha, just around the corner from the marina.

Arrive in Lisbon and disembark after breakfast. Transfer independently to the airport for your continued journeys.