Azamara Onward Itinerary

What Azamara Onward's Autumn Mediterranean Season Is Actually Like

Between the end of October and the start of January, Azamara Onward covers a lot of sea for a small ship. She goes from Iberia and Morocco, across the Med, all the way to Greece and Egypt, with Atlantic-coast stops out of Lisbon along the way. At 30,312 tons and 672 passengers, she's small enough to fit into ports the big ships skip. She was built in 1999 and refurbished in 2024. The season is a different animal from summer. The beaches are empty, the sweaters are out, and the ship is often the only thing in port bigger than a ferry (okay, a mild exaggeration, but it makes a good story).

Weather and sea conditions

Think "crisp and changeable," not "bikini." Tourlane's travel guide puts November at roughly 50–64°F in Barcelona, Athens and Lisbon, with Lisbon the rainiest of the three at 10 rainy days. Rome is the chilly one of the bunch, at 45–61°F with 9 rainy days. Tourlane covers November only, so for your December sailing, check the forecast closer to departure and don't trust anyone's crystal ball, including mine. Sea days on the Med legs are usually fine, but winter weather can reshuffle the plan. The Atlantic-coast stops (Portimão, Casablanca and Cádiz) face open ocean, so expect more swell there than on a Mediterranean hop like Barcelona to Marseille. Hurricane season doesn't apply to this region, so storms here mean the ordinary winter kind.

What the ports are actually worth

• Oct 31, Rome to Barcelona (7 nights): Livorno, Monaco, Villefranche (Nice), Marseille and Palamós. It's a gentle Riviera-and-Tuscany warm-up for the season. Livorno is your Florence/Pisa gateway.
• Nov 7, Barcelona to Lisbon (9 nights): Valencia, Cartagena, Málaga, Gibraltar and a two-night stay in Seville, with the ship in port from 11:00 on Nov 12 to 21:00 on Nov 14. Southern Spain stays warmest, and two nights in Seville means you can see the city after dark without sprinting back to the gangway.
• Nov 17, Lisbon to Barcelona (11 nights) or Rome (18 nights): Portimão, Casablanca, Tangier, Cádiz, Seville, Gibraltar, Málaga, Cartagena and Valencia. The 18-night version doesn't stop at Barcelona on Nov 28. It carries on through Marseille, Villefranche (Nice), La Spezia and Livorno, and arrives in Civitavecchia (Rome) on Dec 5. Azamara's own page currently lists that 18-night sailing as sold out, so don't get your hopes up. Casablanca and Tangier give you two Moroccan stops in one sailing (Nov 19 and 20 on this one). The Dec 22 16-night sailing to Lisbon and the Dec 29 sailing call at the same pair on Jan 2 and 3.
• Nov 28, Barcelona to Rome (7 nights) or Athens (13 nights): Marseille, Villefranche, La Spezia and Livorno. The 13-night version adds Salerno, Siracusa, Katakolon (for Olympia) and Chania.
• Dec 5, Rome to Athens (6 nights) or Rome round trip (17 nights): Salerno, Siracusa, Katakolon (for Olympia) and Chania, then Piraeus (Athens) on Dec 11. The 17-night version stays aboard through Athens and adds Alexandria, Heraklion, Valletta, Catania and Naples, returning to Civitavecchia (Rome) on Dec 22. It's the Dec 12 routing below with a Greek-islands starter course.
• Dec 12, Athens to Rome (10 nights): Alexandria (overnight), Heraklion, Valletta, Catania and Naples. This is the most adventurous routing, so check Egypt entry rules and any itinerary changes before you book. A 16-night version of this sailing keeps going after Rome on the Dec 22 route below, reaching Barcelona on Dec 28.
• Dec 22, Rome to Barcelona (6 nights): Livorno, Mahón (Dec 26), Palma (Dec 27) and Barcelona (Dec 28). The 16-night version carries on from Barcelona through Cartagena, Málaga, Casablanca, Tangier, Cádiz and Seville, reaching Lisbon on Jan 7.
• Dec 29, Barcelona to Lisbon (9 nights): Cartagena, Málaga, Casablanca, Tangier, Cádiz and Seville. Málaga is in port until 23:00 on New Year's Eve, so you can ring in the new year with your shoes already on.

Our database has no port lists for these sailings, so the calls above come from the Cruise Timetables listings. Itineraries change, so confirm yours with Azamara, whose "View Itinerary" link on each sailing page shows the current plan. Our night counts run to arrival in the final port, so Azamara can list the same trip one night longer. It shows the Nov 7 sailing as 10 nights (Nov 7–17) because you disembark in Lisbon on Nov 17.

Which length suits whom

Packing for the climate

Pack layers, a proper rain jacket and shoes that handle wet cobblestones. Add a warm midlayer for evenings on deck and for the Atlantic-coast days in Portugal, Morocco and Cádiz. Skip the swimwear unless you're a very committed optimist. Short winter days also mean some attractions have reduced hours, so check opening times for each port before you commit to a tour.

Seasonal quirks

Fewer crowds is the big win. Winter fares also tend to run lower than summer, and the holiday sailings (Dec 22 and Dec 29) are the exception. On the Dec 22 sailing, the timetable shows no port call on Dec 25, and Mahón doesn't come until Dec 26, so expect Christmas on board rather than ashore. Agent listings say Azamara's fare includes standard drinks and gratuities, but confirm the details for your sailing. On health, the ship's latest CDC Vessel Sanitation Program score in our data is 96 out of 100, from an inspection on December 3, 2025. You can check the details on our CDC inspection lookup, or compare other voyages on our itineraries hub.