Cruising : SUMMER 2021- MSC cruises announces additional ships& new interarlines in the Mediterranean & Across Europe

Geneva, Switzerland — MSC Cruises today announced new and updated itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe for this coming summer, offering guests plenty of options for the upcoming holiday season. The ships offering these now fully confirmed itineraries will operate under the same industry-leading health and safety protocol that has been safely protecting over 60,000 MSC Cruises guests sailing on the line’s ships in the Mediterranean since August 2020.

Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said, “Today we have clarity on which European destinations and ports will initially be open this summer and we have fully reflected this into a first set of new and updated itineraries for the upcoming season so that guests can book their holidays with us with confidence. The entire MSC Cruises team and I look forward to welcoming both returning and new guests on board one of our ships that will be at sea this summer and to provide them with a memorable, relaxing and, above all, safe holiday.

“Plus, I am 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.”

The following is a complete list of MSC Cruises confirmed itineraries now available for booking for this summer.

Three ships in the West Mediterranean, calling Italy and Malta

MSC Grandiosa will initially extend her current 7-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 enriched with calls to the French port of Marseille as soon as its availability is confirmed.

In addition to the range of protected excursions developed for MSC Seaside’s itinerary, MSC Cruises will introduce a special private beach experie

nce in Taranto, exclusively for the ship’s guests. Guests will be able to relax in true summer fashion on the sandy beach next to the clear waters of the Ionian Sea.

MSC Seashore will join the MSC Cruises fleet at the end of July to become its new flagship, and from August 1 until October 31, offer 7-night cruises calling the Italian ports of Genoa, Naples and Messina, as well as Valletta in Malta, Barcelona in Spain and Marseille in France. After her season in the Mediterranean, MSC Seashore will then arrive to Miami in November 2021 to begin sailing The Bahamas and Caribbean, including stops at MSC Cruises’ private Bahamian destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Three ships in the East Mediterranean, calling Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro

MSC Cruises will deploy three ships in this popular region for the upcoming summer season offering a range of itineraries in the East Mediterranean, calling at some of the most beautiful Greek Islands, Kotor in Montenegro as well as the vibrant ports of Dubrovnik and Split in Croatia. Ports of embarkation include Trieste, Venice and Bari in Italy as well as Piraeus for Athens in Greece.

MSC Orchestra will now depart on June 5 with embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays, calling at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia.

MSC Splendida will commence sailing from 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 isMSC Magnifica from June 20 offering embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays and calling at the Greek Island of Mykonos and Split, Croatia.

Cruises across Northern Europe

UK Domestic Cruises

From May 20, the line’s flagship MSC Virtuosa will perform her inaugural season in the UK and offer mini cruises from Southampton calling at Portland in Dorset on the Jurassic coast. From June 12, she will operate 7-night cruises from Southampton with embarkation in Liverpool, Greenock for Glasgow and also calling at Portland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. These cruises are designed for British residents only. The sailings are open to vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests and all guests will be tested prior to embarkation.

Germany, Northern Europe

In Germany, considering the current uncertainty regarding the timing for the reopening of local ports, MSC Cruises ships must delay the start of their summer season out of the country’s ports until June 15.

At the same time, MSC Cruises today announced that 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, Germany and MSC Musica on June 20 from Warnemunde, Germany, if the German ports are open.

The three ships are planned to serve 7-night and longer sailings with itineraries either to the Norwegian fjords or the Baltic capitals, as per their current schedule.

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Mr. Onorato added, “We are extremely proud to be in a position to offer our guests and travel agent partners for the coming summer a growing choice of cruise holidays to a range of different destinations across the Mediterranean and Europe. We will be featuring some of our most innovative and more modern vessels in our fleet. And to make it even easier and safer for our guests to reach our ships from closer to their homes, all our itineraries will feature additional ports of embarkation. In the Mediterranean alone, MSC Cruises will offer its guests up to 15 ports of embarkation.

“Albeit these ships represent only an initial portion of our fleet, they include our two latest jewels, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, both of which will have come into service for the first time in 2021. Their presence in this next phase of the return at sea of our fleet in the coming weeks represent our belief in the continued attractiveness for consumer of cruises as a holiday option. This is why we have confirmed our plans of new builds for the coming years and are looking forward to a gradual return at se of our full fleet in the coming months into the winter season.

Mr. Onorato concluded, “Guests who have vouchers for our cruises that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic ashore have waited patiently for a level of certainty about which ships will sail and where. I am pleased to say that they can now look forward with confidence to an incredible holiday at sea on an MSC Cruises ship either this summer or over the upcoming winter season.”

Other summer 2021 affected programs

MSC Cruises also confirmed the cancellation of its Caribbean sailings from ports in the USA up to and including June 30, 2021. Guests who are impacted by any of the changes will be contacted by their travel advisor or MSC Cruises.

About MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is the world’s third largest cruise brand as well as the leader in Europe, South America, the Gulf region and Southern Africa with more market share in addition to deployed capacity than any other player. It is also the fastest growing global cruise brand with a strong presence in the Caribbean, North America and the Far East markets.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, MSC Cruises one of the two brands that sit within the Cruises Division of MSC Group, the leading privately held Swiss-based shipping and logistics conglomerate with over 300 years of maritime heritage. MSC Cruises — the contemporary brand — has a modern fleet of 18 vessels combined with a sizeable future global investment portfolio of new vessels. The fleet is projected to grow to 23 cruise ships by 2025 with options for six vessel orders in place through 2030.

MSC Cruises offersits guests an enriching, immersive and safe cruise experience inspired by the Company’s European heritage, where they can enjoy international dining, world-class entertainment, award-winning family programs and the very latest user-friendly technology on board. To learn more about MSC Cruises’ itineraries and experience on board its ships please see here.

The Company’s number one priority has always been the health and safety of its guests and crew, as well as the communities at the destinations its ships serve.  In August 2020, MSC Cruises implemented a new comprehensive and robust health and safety protocol to become the first major line to return to sea. To learn more about MSC Cruises’ health & safety protocol please see here.

MSC Cruises has long been committed to environmental stewardship with a long-term goal to achieve zero emissions for its operations. The Company is also a significant investor in next-generation environmental marine technologies, with the objective to support their accelerated development and availability industry wide. To learn more about the Company’s environmental commitment please see here.