Providing “clarity” on its summer cruising season, MSC Cruises has released new, updated itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe designed to offer guests plenty of options for the upcoming holiday season.
The cruise line’s announcement of “fully confirmed itineraries” will allow guests to make bookings with confidence, says MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato, who adds that they reflect European destinations and ports that will initially be open in the face of the pandemic, but that he is “confident that in the coming weeks we will be able to further enrich some of these itineraries as well as add more ships with new ones, as more ports and tourist destinations, in particular in Spain and France, become available to receive ships and visitors.”
All ships in the program will operate under stringent health and safety protocols, which have been effect on MSC ships that have sailed since last August.
The following is a complete list of MSC Cruises confirmed itineraries now available for booking:
West Mediterranean
• MSC Grandiosa will initially extend her current seven-night itinerary, calling at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples, Palermo as well as Valletta, Malta. The Spanish ports of Valencia and Barcelona will be added to the ship’s current itinerary as soon as these destinations confirm their availability.
• MSC Seaside will commence sailing on May 1 from Genoa calling at the newly introduced ports of Siracusa in Sicily and Taranto in Puglia, as well as Civitavecchia for Rome and Valetta in Malta. The ship’s itinerary will then be enhanced with calls to the French port of Marseille as soon as its availability is confirmed. And from Aug. 1 until 31 October, the Seaside will offer seven-night cruises calling the Italian ports of Genoa, Naples and Messina, as well as Valletta in Malta, Barcelona in Spain and Marseille in France.
East Mediterranean
• MSC Orchestra will now depart on June 5, offering guests embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays and then call at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia.
• MSC Splendida will commence sailing June 12 with embarkation in Trieste, Italy on Saturdays and in Bari on Tuesdays, calling at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu in Greece, and Kotor in Montenegro.
• Rounding out the offering in the East Mediterranean is MSC Magnifica from June 20 with embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays, then calling at the Greek Island of Mykonos and Split, Croatia.
UK domestic cruises
From May 20, the line’s flagship MSC Virtuosa will perform her inaugural season in the UK for British residents only.
Germany, Northern Europe
Considering the current uncertainty regarding the timing for the reopening of local ports in Germany, MSC Cruises ships must delay the start of their summer season out of the country’s ports until June 15.
MSC Seaview will homeport in Kiel, Germany, starting on June 19 replacing MSC Virtuosa. Additionally, MSC Preziosa is planned to depart on June 21 from Hamburg and MSC Musica on June 20 from Warnemunde, Germany, if the German ports are open. The three ships are expected to serve seven-and-longer-night sailings with itineraries either to the Norwegian fjords or the Baltic capitals, as per their current schedule.
Caribbean
MSC Cruises has confirmed the cancellation of its Caribbean sailings from ports in the US up to and including June 30.
MSC also reports that flexible booking conditions will apply to all bookings made before May 31.