33 Night Cruise sailing from Istanbul to Barcelona onboard Noordam.

Launched in 2006, the ms Noordam is the newest member of our renowned Vista-class ships. Named for the Northern compass point, she embraces the latest industry and environmental technologies such as her use of a diesel-electric power plant for optimal energy efficiency and an Azipod propulsion system that maximizes maneuverability.

Onboard ms Noordam you will discover museum-quality paintings such as an oil painting of the city of Utrecht painted in 1842, as well as contemporary art like the series of photographs of music greats Dizzy Gillespie and BB King. One of the most valuable pieces of furniture onboard the ship is a remarkable inlaid chest flanked by carved wooden 17th-century Baroque columns. Made in Germany in 1885, the chest is inlaid with ebony and precious stones. Enjoy an onboard IPod self-guided tour of the complete Noordam art collection. The ms Noordam exemplifies the classic style of ocean travel with contemporary amenities and modern enhancements.

Highlights of this cruise:

Istanbul, Turkey
Cross the Galata Bridge to the old city, past the Süleymaniye Mosque, whose 174-foot dome was once the highest in the Ottoman Empire. Pass the ancient city walls, built by Constantine, and beneath the epic Roman aqueduct. You've come for spice; for the scent of curry, saffron, and myrrh; for a taste of something ancient. A cruise to Istanbul (nee Constantinople nee Byzantium) with Holland America Line takes you to the world's only two-continent metropolis, thick with nearly 10 millennia of history.

Mykonos, Greece
Informality rules on this sunny isle where pleasure-seekers from around the world come to play. Ramble along narrow streets past white-washed houses and blue-domed churches, bouganvillea-covered walls and thread-like, step-laden footpaths leading everywhere.

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Ephesus is a beautiful ghost. In the first century B.C., the city was one of the largest cites in the world. It's amphitheater sat 24,000 people. Its Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Library of Celsus was perhaps the finest in creation. Today, the amphitheater is a ruin, the temple is gone, and the library is a shell, open to the sky. Still, your cruise excursion will reveal glory in the old stones. Ephesus has one of the largest collections of ruins in the eastern Mediterranean. Prime among them is the library, whose two-story façade still stands, and the house said to be the last residence of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes (the Greek island) shines green and white in the blue of eastern Aegean. Just 11 miles from Turkey, Rhodes is strewn with small towns, littorally. Notable among them is Lindos, with its stunning Acropolis. Rhodes (the city) is located at the northeastern tip of the island and was merely one of the most glorious cities of antiquity. The Colossus of Rhodes stood more than 100 feet high at the edge of the harbor and was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world before an earthquake toppled it in 226 B.C. Of the statue, nothing remains, but Rhodes Old Town, a World Heritage Site, endures as one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe and a place of pilgrimage for cruise travelers.

Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt
Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria offers museums filled with mummies, as well as access to the Pyramids and Sphinx.

Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Where the West Was Born
There's no escaping the Parthenon. The temple to Athena looms over Athens from its perch atop the Acropolis, and it looms across the Western imagination as an icon of art and civilization. You may as well give in and start your cruise visit there. And why not? Completed in 438 B.C., the temple still astounds as the flowering of Greek art and architecture. When you come down off the hill, be sure to visit the Ancient Agora, Syntagma Square, the National Archaeological Museum, and the city's infinite impromptu byways. As you sample some souvlaki or a frappe, take a glance back up the hill from time to time and give the goddess her due.

Santorini
Your harbor on this island was created by a volcano in 1500 BC., and the effect is still explosive: steep cliffs rise from sea level, cubist white houses glow in the Aegean sun.

Venice
Your eyes deceive you as you get closer. An entire stone city concocted from spires and cupolas seems to float on water. The optics seem off, but by now you're too far charmed to turn back. Cruise to Venice with Holland American Line and start easily. Have a bicerin, a hot mix of espresso, drinking chocolate and whole milk. Then step out into the palatial arcades and outdoor cafes of St. Mark's Square. Ready? Now you can really get going. Venice has 117 islands and a million stories of empire, longing, and glory.

Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, you Adriatic jewel box, where did you get that red? The city's old town is walled all around, with ramparts that drop to the sea and enclose a town of closely clustered buildings, mostly attired in white walls and brilliant red rooftops. Explore town highlights on your cruise, like Roland's Column, the Bell Tower, or the Old Port. Outside of town, go for a swim in the limpid waters at Lapad or Banje beaches. Or head to the top of Mount Srd for a view of the city, the beaches, and away west to Italy.

Corfu
Fortresses flank your entrance to this most beautiful of the Ionians. Lose yourself in the Venetian old town or head north for dramatic seascapes.

Rome
Step off the cruise ship, linger at a sidewalk cafe in the early evening and take in the pageant: the taste of your cappuccino, the kiss of warm air, the immaculately attired locals just getting their evenings started. Rome is nicknamed the Eternal City, and rightly so, for the array of icons - the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica - and for the role it played shaping the Western world. But there is perhaps a less-recognized genius in the way the city embraces the sensual side of life, as if to acknowledge there's no eternity like the present.

Naples
There is the docile bay; the peaceful cypress-tufted islands of Ischia, Procida and Capri; and the muscular city of Naples itself. And over it all there looms Mount Vesuvius: volcano, national park, and a persistent corrective to any hubris. Cruise to see the only active volcano on the European mainland, which blew in A.D. 79 and buried the city of Pompeii. Naples itself is mere enduring greatness. One of the chief commercial cities of Europe, highlights include Castel dell'Ovo, Castelnuovo and national museums dedicated to art and archaeology. The city center has been designated a World Heritage Site, and the surrounding areas are dotted with cultural and historical treasures, not least them the restored ruins of Pompeii.

La Goulette
Tunis, the nearby capital, offers a bustling medina as well as the Bardo Museum, famed for its collection of mosaics and major finds from nearby Carthage, once the glorious rival of Rome.

Livorno
If on your cruise you you mistake Livorno for another city across the Italian peninsula, you'll be forgiven. The Venice District of town is a tangle of streets crisscrossed by canals. A beautiful Renaissance city in its own right, Livorno is also your gateway to Pisa, to the north, and Florence, to the west. Pisa contains a host of beautiful cathedrals, palaces, and bridges over the Arno River, as well as one glorious monument to faulty engineering. More than a city, Florence represents so much of what is vital to human expression in commerce, politics, and the arts.

Monte Carlo
The principality of Monaco is the essence of the Riviera: couture fashion, grand yachts, nightlife centered around its famed Casino.

Mallorca
Among Palma's lovely sights are the Gothic-style Bellver Castle, a 13-th century cathedral and the Almudaina Palace, once home to Mallorcan kings.

Barcelona
Barcelona effuses the ancient, the modernist, and the Gaudi. Legend has it the city was founded by Hercules 400 years before the founding of Rome. Whatever the truth, the city today is a global capital of commerce, fashion, culture, and sunshine (the city gets about 300 days of it a year). Cruise visitors should start with a walk down Las Ramblas, the glorious tree-shaded thoroughfare at the heart of the city. Claim a patch of sand on one of the city beaches. But, most of all, see what visionary architect Antoni Gaudi wrought. Seven of his creations have been honored as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including La Sagrada Familia, the Park Guell, and Casa Mila.