10 Mediterranean Islands

1 Sicily (Italy) 25,460 5,010,000 Palermo

2 Sardinia  (Italy) 24,090 1,656,000 Cagliari

3 Cyprus  (Cyprus, Turkey, UK) 9,251 1088503 Nicosia

4 Corsica  (France) 8,681 322,000 Ajaccio

5 Crete  (Greece) 8,312 624,000 Heraklion

6 Majorca  (Spain) 3,640 846,000 Palma

7 Rhodes  (Greece) 1,398 117,000 Rhodes

8 Corfu  (Greece) 592 108,000 Corfu

9 Ibiza  (Spain) 577 111,000 Ibiza Town

10 Malta  (Malta) 246 409,259 Valletta

There are well over 150 islands all told. Other well known examples include Lesbos, Chios, Minorca and Elba.

Cruise

Okay, I confess. I've been away on a cruise. My father has sold the family house to move into sheltered accommodation and he wanted to take my sister and our families away for a week long Mediterranean Cruise. I protested, of course, but gave in. It's a little like Butlins on sea I suppose but is flexible enough for you to make of it what you will and we did. We went with Island Cruises (see here) on their ship MV Island Star, which has 753 cabins and a capacity of 1,875 passengers with a further 573 crew. She weighs 46,811 tons, is 208 metres long and has a cruising speed of 18 knots. Our Captain was John Brocklehhurst. We were on the Mediterranean Essence cruise and the map above reveals our itinerary. Being rather untravelled it was all pretty new to us. I'm afraid I'm going to be boring you with it for the few days or so.