Malaga | Wetravel2u's Weblog

by Natasha Salmon

MSC will return to the UK in 2018 with Magnifica sailing its first full season ex-UK programme.

The ship, which launched in 2009, will make Southampton its home for eight months from April until November.

The company also revealed it will operate its first world cruise in 2019.

UK managing director Antonio Paradiso announced the ‘big UK comeback’ at their All Star of the Seas event held on Sunday November 13 onboard the MSC Fantasia in Barcelona.

Paradiso said: “We are coming back to the UK with our ship Magnifica for a whole season, it is a big comeback for us and we are very excited.

“It marks a new dedication from MSC to the UK market and how we want to be one of the most popular cruise lines in the country.

“We have created itineraries that make the most of the British Isles and the best of what are customers can experience out of their own country.

“I am really excited, this is game on for us. I want us to become one of the top three cruise lines in the UK.”

There will be five new itineraries out of Southampton including a 14-day sailing calling at Le Havre, La Coruna, Leixoes, Lisbon, Malaga then Amsterdam and Hamburg.

A North Sea sailing will travel to Stavanger, Bergen, Olden and Alesund in Norway plus a round-UK sailing calling at Southampton, Newcastle, South Queensferry in Edinburgh and Invergordon.

Following the UK sailings, the Magnifica will then host the company’s first ever world cruise from January 2019.

The 119-day itinerary will visit 32 countries with 49 ports of call with some destinations including Panama, San Francisco, Melbourne and Petra in Jordan.

Paradiso said: “This will open up a whole new market for us and it is something we have waited a long time to do.

“We wanted to reduce days at sea so during the 119 days there will be no more than five consecutive days at sea.”

Bookings for the ex-UK Magnifica sailings will be available in early 2017, no set date has been released yet.

2 Norwegian ships to undergo refurbishments

By Donna Tunney

Norwegian Cruise Line said that its Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Jade will enter drydocks this fall for multimillion dollar enhancements.

The Norwegian Spirit enters a 13-day drydock on Sept. 25 in Mobile, Ala. The 2,018-passenger ship will be fitted for WiFi and will receive new carpeting, flat-screen televisions and upgrades to the Stardust Theater and the Raffles restaurant.

When the ship returns to service Oct. 9 it will sail a series of seven-day western Caribbean itineraries from New Orleans, calling on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Belize City, Belize, through April 8. The ship will then operate a 13-day transatlantic cruise, arriving in Barcelona on April 28, before beginning 12-day Mediterranean cruises alternating from Barcelona and Venice through Oct. 13, 2012. Beginning on Nov. 6, 2012, the ship will sail nine-day Canary Islands cruises from Barcelona, through April 8, 2013.

The Norwegian Jade will undergo its upgrades in Marseille, France, from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8. A Brazilian steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria, will be added and new carpeting and tile will be installed throughout the ship. The ship will also receive technical enhancements, the line said.

After emerging from drydock, the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade, which sails year-round from Europe, will cruise a nine-day itinerary departing Barcelona calling on Funchal, Portugal; Tenerife and Arrecife in the Canary Islands; and .