The luxury hotels contrast with the poverty of the favelas (shanty towns), but in Rio it doesn’t take much to feel happy: a beer on the beach, music, a jog along the promenade at Copacabana, the Carnival or a local football team victory.

The “Venice of Brazil” stretches over bridges and canals and is protected by a coral barrier reef. Not far from Recife is Olinda, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both Recife’s and Olinda’s famous carnivals are wonderful.

Strolling about Mindelo, on the island of Sao Vicente, you can admire monuments from the colonial era and the pretty boulevard near the sea. There are many festivals, culminating in the Carnival, which make the town’s social life very vibrant.

Las Palmas is a capital of Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. A major cruise-ship port, the city is known for duty-free shopping and for its sandy beaches. At Playa de Las Canteras, a coral barrier lines the beach and shelters swimmers. The annual Las Palmas de Gran Canaria carnival brings together flamboyantly costumed performers, music and dancing

Overlooking Morocco’s Atlantic coast, the port of Casablanca is the docking point of your Atlantic Ocean cruise to a modern, cosmopolitan and fairly liberal city. From the harbour, in addition to the promenade where you can enjoy a stroll, you can quickly reach the medina on the northern side of the old city. Surrounded by walls dating back to the 16th century, the Casablanca medina is not very large, but the Souk el-Kebir has all the charm of a Moroccan market. Definitely very different but worthy of a look while on your cruise to Casablanca is the Habous district where the new medina was developed in the 1930s to solve the city’s housing shortage. The most important mosque is the modern Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993. It stands on a promontory overlooking the Atlantic and the very high minaret serves as a beacon for the harbour. While in Casablanca, a shore excursion to the cathedral of the Sacred Heart is well worth the time. Once a Catholic church, it is now transformed into a cultural centre connected from the Park of the Arab League to the lively Maârif district, modern, full of bars and dominated by the towers of the Twin Center.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain with three million inhabitants, a dominating port in northern Mediterranean with one of the most renowned and important universities in the world. The city is a very rich commercial centre, where industrial operations crucial to the Spanish economy take place. In fact, Catalans have always considered their region unique compared with the other Spanish regions and we can find its roots in the power exercised by Barcelona for four hundred years at least on Spanish monarchy and on European commercial events.

A crossroads of trades and cultures, Marseille is the oldest city in France. The varied social make up of the city is reflected in the vibrant musical and artistic scene.

Above the port of Savona, the Priamar Fortress greets every departure and arrival of the Costa ships sailing in the Mediterranean. Genoa and its aquarium are nearby. The port of Savona, which you can explore during your cruise in Italy, is one of the prettiest of the Italian Riviera. The lovely climate, summers that are never to hot, mild winters and the exceptional beauty of the sea near the town makes Savona an excellent base to set out to explore Liguria. Savona is notable for the Priamar Fortress, which has dominated the town since the 16th century, and also for its historic centre where you can visit Savona Cathedral. A stop in Savona can also be an opportunity to visit the nearby city of Genoa and its narrow, picturesque streets, known as “caruggi”.