In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, the Transfer Tour 2026 aboard MSC Magnifica reaches the Basque Country in northern Spain.

The ship docks in Getxo, near the mouth of the Nervión River, rather than directly in central Bilbao. From there, we take a taxi straight to the Guggenheim Museum, with tickets already booked in advance.

Inside, the art itself is not necessarily the main attraction for me. Instead, it is Frank Gehry’s extraordinary building that leaves the strongest impression. Its sweeping curves, titanium surfaces, changing reflections, large interior spaces, and unusual perspectives make the museum feel almost like a giant walkable sculpture.

After the visit, rising temperatures make a long city exploration less appealing, so we return to Getxo. A later shuttle ride into town reveals mostly closed shops, and the day ends back aboard MSC Magnifica.

A focused port call with one very clear highlight – and a reminder that sometimes the building containing the art can become the most memorable work of art itself.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, the Transfer Tour 2026 aboard MSC Magnifica reaches A Coruña on Spain’s Atlantic coast.

For many cruise passengers, A Coruña is the starting point for an excursion to Santiago de Compostela. But having already visited Santiago during the Winter Cruise 2024, this time we decided to stay closer to the ship and discover A Coruña itself.

Our guided tour began at 9:15 and first took us towards the Tower of Hercules, the ancient Roman lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic and one of the city’s most important landmarks. Along the way, we experienced A Coruña’s coastline, beaches, maritime atmosphere, and even a large octopus sculpture that seemed perfectly at home in seafood-loving Galicia.

From there, we continued into the historic center, walking past fountains, churches, and old squares. One particularly memorable detail was a short walk along an actual section of the Camino de Santiago, connecting the visit directly with Galicia’s famous pilgrimage tradition.

The tour ended at Plaza de María Pita, dominated by A Coruña’s impressive city hall and named after the local heroine remembered for defending the city during an English attack in the 16th century.

A day between Roman history, Atlantic views, Galician identity, and the Camino, and proof that A Coruña is far more than simply a gateway to Santiago de Compostela.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, the Transfer Tour 2026 aboard MSC Magnifica reaches Barcelona, Spain.

The original idea was to explore several of Antoni Gaudí’s famous buildings more directly. But after taking the shuttle from the cruise terminal to the World Trade Center, the plan changed spontaneously.

Instead, we boarded one of Barcelona’s red double-decker sightseeing buses and followed the red route through the city. The tour provided a broad overview of Barcelona, passing places such as La Rambla, the waterfront, Poblenou, the Sagrada Família, Arc de Triomf, Montjuïc, the Olympic area, Poble Espanyol, Plaça de Catalunya, and Casa Batlló.

It was a relaxed way to experience very different sides of the city, from Mediterranean beaches and modern neighborhoods to Olympic history and some of Gaudí’s most recognizable architecture.

Then the weather changed.

Rain began to fall, the bus roof was quickly closed, and yet water still managed to find its way inside whenever the vehicle turned. What had begun as a convenient sightseeing tour became an unexpectedly wet ride through Barcelona.

A spontaneous port day full of architecture, changing plans, and one very memorable rainy bus journey.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, the Transfer Tour 2026 aboard MSC Magnifica reaches its first port of call: Marseille, France.

Marseille is one of the Mediterranean’s great port cities, known for the Old Port, the hilltop basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, the historic streets of Le Panier, and centuries of maritime history. But this visit takes a very different direction.

Having visited Marseille several times before, and with MSC Magnifica once again docked far from the actual city center, there was no need to turn the day into another full sightseeing excursion.

Instead, the morning started slowly aboard the ship with breakfast, some time to back up photos, and a quiet break outside on deck. After lunch, there was still time for a short walk ashore, but only through the immediate cruise harbor area with its large quays, traffic routes, and port infrastructure.

It may not have been a day of famous landmarks, but that was exactly the point.

Sometimes a cruise port becomes an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the ship, step ashore for a while, and simply let the journey continue at its own pace.

In this first episode of Season 5 of the TSJ CruisePod, we begin a very different kind of cruise: the Transfer Tour 2026 aboard MSC Magnifica.

Instead of returning to the same port after a classic round trip, this journey starts in Genoa, Italy, and gradually moves north. From the Mediterranean, the route leads to Marseille and Barcelona before turning towards the Atlantic coast with stops in A Coruña, Bilbao, La Rochelle, and Brest. The final destination is Warnemünde on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast.

It is a cruise shaped by transition. Mediterranean cities and familiar ports slowly give way to Galicia, the Basque Country, France’s Atlantic coast, Brittany, and finally northern Europe.

This episode introduces the route and the ship that connects all these destinations: MSC Magnifica. Built in 2010, she combines the atmosphere of a more traditional cruise ship with restaurants, bars, lounges, pools, entertainment venues, spa facilities, sports areas, and plenty of places to simply watch the sea go by.

And for this particular journey, MSC Magnifica was more than just the ship for another cruise. She was already familiar from previous travels, making the beginning of the Transfer Tour feel a little like coming back to a floating home.

In this final episode of this TSJ CruisePod season, we complete the Mediterranean Tour with an excursion from Marseille to Aix-en-Provence, France.

Since Marseille had already been visited during previous cruises, this last port day took a different direction. Instead of exploring the busy port city again, we joined an MSC excursion inland to Aix-en-Provence, one of the most elegant towns in southern France.

After a coach ride with background information about Marseille and Aix, the group was divided by language and we continued in a smaller guided walking tour. This made the visit feel calm and personal, with stops at several of the town’s characteristic fountains and squares, including the Fontaine de la Rotonde and the Place des Quatre Dauphins.

The walk continued along the Cours Mirabeau, through historic streets, past the town hall and on to the Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence. Afterwards, there was some free time to browse, buy a few typical souvenirs and enjoy the Provençal atmosphere before returning to the ship.

Back on board MSC Seaview, it was time to relax, start packing and slowly say goodbye to the Mediterranean Tour. This episode closes the season – but not the journey. A new cruise adventure will continue soon on the TSJ CruisePod.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, we continue the Mediterranean Tour with our next port call: Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona is one of the great cruise cities of the Mediterranean and appears on many itineraries. After previous visits during the World Cruise 2023 and World Cruise 2025, this stop became a shorter and more relaxed return to a familiar destination.

Instead of using the MSC shuttle, we chose the public Cruise Bus, which offered a cheaper and practical connection from the cruise terminal to the World Trade Center. From there, we walked toward La Rambla and passed the Columbus Monument.

A small tourist information sign inside the monument led to the most memorable part of the day: a ride up the monument and a great view over the harbor area and the city.

Afterwards, the walk along La Rambla remained rather short, partly because ongoing construction work made the boulevard feel less inviting than expected. So this Barcelona stop became a simple, practical, and pleasant visit – with a familiar city seen from a slightly different perspective.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, we continue the Mediterranean Tour with our next port call: Ibiza, Spain.

Ibiza is often associated with clubs, nightlife, beach bars, and long summer nights. But during this cruise stop, the island showed a quieter and more historic side. After docking a little outside the center, we used the shuttle service to reach the ferry harbor near the old town.

From there, the visit became a relaxed walk through parts of Ibiza Town, with shop windows, Mediterranean streets, sections of the old city wall, views toward Dalt Vila, the Baluarte de San Jorge, and the Estatua Vara de Rey.

For one of us, it was also a return after more than thirty years, when the strongest memory of Ibiza had simply been the feeling of extremely hot sand at midday. This time, the visit was short, warm, and easy-going – a compact look at Ibiza beyond its famous nightlife image.

A sunny island stop with history, atmosphere, and just enough time to enjoy the Mediterranean character before returning to MSC Seaview.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, we continue the Mediterranean Tour with our next port call: Palermo, Italy.

After already visiting Palermo during the World Cruise 2025, this stop was planned differently. Instead of joining another organized excursion, we explored the city independently and focused on a few selected highlights at a slower pace.

The day began with a challenge at the port, where most taxi drivers were mainly interested in selling longer sightseeing tours. In the end, a tuk-tuk became the perfect solution – and the ride through Palermo’s energetic traffic turned into a small adventure of its own.

From there, we explored the area around Via Vittorio Emanuele, visited the impressive Palermo Cathedral, took a short break in the Sicilian heat, and joined a guided tour of Teatro Massimo, one of the city’s great architectural landmarks.

It was a compact but rewarding day in Sicily’s capital – full of history, movement, character, and Mediterranean city life.

In this episode of the TSJ CruisePod, we continue the Mediterranean Tour with our first port call: Civitavecchia, Italy.

Although Civitavecchia is best known as the cruise gateway to Rome, this stop took a different direction. After the originally planned excursion to Tarquinia and Tuscania was cancelled, the day became a more relaxed exploration of Civitavecchia itself.

We took the free port shuttle into town and joined a small open blue sightseeing bus, passing places such as Piazza Calamatta, the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi, the National Archaeological Museum, the marina, and the Pirgo waterfront area.

It was a day of coastal views, local atmosphere, changing weather, and mixed impressions – from pleasant city scenes and historic landmarks to heavy rain and an unexpectedly expensive ice cream stop.

A quieter, more spontaneous port day – and a reminder that even gateway ports can tell their own story.

In this first episode of the Mediterranean Tour, we set the scene for the journey ahead. The cruise begins in Genoa, Italy, after travelling by plane from Hamburg and Stuttgart to Milan and continuing by train to the Ligurian coast.

From Genoa, the route leads to Civitavecchia, Palermo, Ibiza, Barcelona, Marseille with an excursion to Aix-en-Provence, and finally back to Genoa. Along the way, we get a first impression of the destinations that will shape the upcoming episodes.

This episode also introduces the ship itself: MSC Seaview. With her open decks, Waterfront Boardwalk, restaurants, lounges, pools, entertainment areas, and modern cruise technology, she becomes much more than transportation between ports. She is the floating home of this Mediterranean journey and an important part of the experience itself.

In the final episode of Season 3, we step away from port visits and focus on life aboard the MSC Magnifica during the many days spent crossing oceans.

From World Trivia competitions and creative workshops to language lessons, team challenges, daily bridge announcements, and spectacular evening entertainment, this episode reveals what daily life was really like during four months at sea.

We also look back at the remarkable scale of the World Cruise 2025 through fascinating statistics and reflect on the friendships, routines, and experiences that transformed the MSC Magnifica from a cruise ship into a floating home.

As the journey comes to an end, this episode serves as both a celebration of the adventure and a heartfelt thank-you to the crew, family members, and fellow travelers who made it possible.

A fitting conclusion to an unforgettable voyage around the world.

🎧 Thank you for joining me throughout Season 3 of TSJ CruisePod – your journey beyond the waves.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 returns to Europe with visits to Puerto del Rosario on Fuerteventura, Palermo in Sicily, and Civitavecchia on the Italian mainland.

On Fuerteventura, we discover peaceful villages, panoramic viewpoints, historical landmarks, and the breathtaking dune landscapes of Corralejo Natural Park. The island reveals itself as a place of contrasts, where history, nature, and tranquility come together.

In Palermo, Sicily’s vibrant capital, we explore grand squares, historic theaters, magnificent churches, and the unforgettable Cathedral of Monreale with its spectacular golden mosaics. The city’s unique blend of cultures and centuries of history creates one of the most memorable experiences of the Mediterranean.

Finally, in Civitavecchia, we deliberately slow down. Instead of rushing to Rome, we enjoy a relaxed day exploring the harbor town, reflecting on four months of travel, and beginning preparations for the journey home.

Three destinations. Three different experiences. And the beginning of the final chapter of an unforgettable journey around the world.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 continues along Africa’s Atlantic coast, taking us to three remarkable destinations: Cape Town in South Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia, and Dakar in Senegal.

Cape Town impresses with its breathtaking setting between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain. From panoramic views at Signal Hill and the colorful streets of Bo-Kaap to the bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the city delivers unforgettable experiences at every turn.

In Walvis Bay, we encounter one of the most striking landscapes of the entire voyage. The Namib Desert stretches endlessly toward the horizon, while nearby lagoons provide a habitat for flamingos, pelicans, and other wildlife. Visits to vast salt works and the desert itself reveal the unique contrasts that define Namibia.

The journey concludes in Dakar, Senegal’s energetic capital. Exploring bustling markets, historic landmarks, religious sites, and the impressive African Renaissance Monument offers a fascinating introduction to West African culture. The visit to the artisan market, famous for its remarkable sand paintings, provides a memorable final chapter to our African adventure.

Three destinations. Three cultures. One unforgettable continent. And another extraordinary chapter of this journey around the world.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 takes us from the tropical islands of the Indian Ocean to the southern coast of Africa.

In Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, we discover the lush landscapes of Mahé, visit a tropical botanical garden, encounter giant tortoises, and learn about the famous Coco de Mer palm. The island’s relaxed atmosphere and breathtaking scenery make for an unforgettable stop.

Next, we arrive in Hell-Ville on Madagascar’s island of Nosy Be. At Lemuria Land, we experience some of the world’s most unique wildlife, including lemurs, chameleons, crocodiles, and giant tortoises. A visit to a historic ylang-ylang distillery and the colorful local market offers deeper insight into the island’s culture and economy.

Finally, we reach Gqeberha, South Africa’s “Friendly City.” A panoramic city tour introduces us to historic landmarks, coastal districts, educational institutions, and breathtaking viewpoints overlooking Algoa Bay. The city’s blend of history, transformation, and hospitality provides a memorable introduction to South Africa.

Three destinations. Three cultures. And another remarkable chapter of this journey around the world.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 takes us from Australia’s west coast across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives.

Our first stop is Busselton, where we visit the famous Busselton Jetty and descend beneath the waves in the Underwater Observatory. Surrounded by colorful fish and marine life, we experience one of Western Australia’s unique natural attractions.

Next, we spend two days exploring Fremantle and nearby Perth. From panoramic views in Kings Park and the beaches of Cottesloe to the fascinating history of Fremantle Prison, this stop offers a perfect combination of modern city life and colonial heritage.

After several days at sea, we arrive in Malé, the capital of the Maldives. Instead of heading to a luxury resort, we explore the city independently, discovering historic mosques, public squares, local life, and even a sea turtle swimming in the harbor. The experience reveals a side of the Maldives that many visitors never see.

Three destinations, three unique perspectives, and another unforgettable chapter of this journey around the world.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 continues across southern Australia with visits to Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, and Albany.

Adelaide introduces us to a city known for its green spaces, relaxed atmosphere, and high quality of life. Despite rainy weather, we discover the Botanic Garden, historic neighborhoods, and even experience everyday life through a local train journey to Outer Harbor.

Kangaroo Island delivers one of the most authentic nature experiences of the voyage. From stunning coastal scenery and frequent kangaroo sightings to the island’s famous Ligurian bees and delicious honey products, the day offers a perfect introduction to Australia’s wild side.

In Albany, Western Australia, we step back into history. Exploring museums, historic buildings, and local markets reveals the story of one of the region’s earliest settlements. A surprise opportunity to ring the bells of St John’s Anglican Church becomes one of the most memorable moments of the day.

Three destinations, three very different experiences, and another fascinating chapter of this journey around the world.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the World Cruise 2025 takes us to three fascinating destinations across Australia: Sydney, Eden, and Melbourne.

Sydney welcomes us with its world-famous harbor, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge. Over two days, we explore both the city’s iconic sights and its wildlife, including unforgettable encounters with koalas, wombats, and kangaroos. An unexpected police operation on board adds a surprising twist to our departure.

In Eden, nature takes center stage. A unique golf-cart safari brings us face-to-face with kangaroos in their natural environment, while the Killer Whale Museum tells the remarkable story of Old Tom, the famous orca who once cooperated with local whalers.

Melbourne provides a completely different perspective on Australia. From a river cruise on the Yarra and the relaxed atmosphere of St Kilda to the powerful Shrine of Remembrance and the city’s cultural landmarks, Melbourne reveals why it is considered Australia’s cultural capital.

Three destinations, three unique experiences, and another unforgettable chapter of this world cruise.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the journey takes us from the South Island of New Zealand to the wild landscapes of Tasmania, with three unforgettable stops: Dunedin, Milford Sound, and Hobart.

Dunedin impresses with its strong Scottish heritage and well-preserved Victorian architecture. A visit to Olveston House offers insight into life in the early 20th century, while the Botanic Gardens and coastal scenery provide a peaceful contrast.

Milford Sound is a true natural highlight. Surrounded by steep cliffs, waterfalls, and dense rainforest, cruising through this fjord is an unforgettable experience. The calm atmosphere and breathtaking scenery make it one of the most iconic destinations in New Zealand.

In Hobart, Tasmania, the focus shifts to wildlife and conservation. At Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, we encounter Tasmanian devils, wombats, and kangaroos while learning about the importance of protecting native species. Despite changing weather, the day offers a rich and memorable experience.

Three destinations, each showcasing a different side of the journey – from history and nature to wildlife and exploration.

In this episode of TSJ CruisePod, the world cruise takes us deeper into New Zealand, with three diverse and meaningful destinations: Tauranga, the Bay of Islands, and Christchurch.

In Tauranga, we explore the region’s connection to kiwifruit and gain insight into local agriculture, followed by visits to historic sites that reflect the complex cultural history between Māori communities and early settlers.

The Bay of Islands offers one of the most historically significant experiences of the journey. At the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, we learn about the founding document of modern New Zealand and gain a deeper understanding of the country’s cultural and political history, enriched by an emotional Māori cultural performance.

In Christchurch, the focus shifts to resilience and transformation. After the devastating earthquakes, the city has reinvented itself, combining modern architecture, green spaces, and creative urban development into a unique and inspiring destination.

Three ports, each telling a different story – and together offering a deeper understanding of New Zealand’s identity.