Tag Archives: MSC Cruise

Where Are MSC’s Fleet of Cruise Ships?

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With six ships back in service, the MSC Cruises fleet is concentrated in Europe. Here is the location of every ship as of June 26, 2021:

MSC Seashore
Year Built: 2021
Capacity: 4,560 guests
Location: Monfalcone, Italy

The MSC Seashore is currently in the final stages of construction at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard. The third ship in the Seaside Class, its scheduled to enter service on August 1.

MSC Virtuosa
Year Built: 2021
Capacity: 4,888 guests
Location: United Kingdom

One of the MSC ships in service, the MSC Virtuosa is currently cruising in the United Kingdom.

MSC Virtuosa arriving in Liverpool, photo by Dave Jones

MSC Grandiosa
Year Built: 2019
Capacity: 4,888 guests
Location: Western Mediterranean

Like the MSC Virtuosa, the MSC Grandiosa is back in service. The vessel is presently offering a 7-night itinerary to Italy, Spain and Malta with calls in ports such as Naples, Civitavecchia, Barcelona and La Valletta.

MSC Bellissima
Year Built: 2019 
Capacity: 4,500 guests
Location: Dubai, UAE

Sailing in the Emirates when cruises were suspended in March 2020, the MSC Bellissima has been in Dubai for over a year.

MSC Seaview
Year Built: 2018
Capacity: 4,140 guests
Location: The Mediterranean

After several months in Italy, the MSC Seaview is currently sailing in the Mediterranean en route to Germany. The vessel is poised to resume service in the Baltic Sea on July 3, sailing from Kiel.  

MSC Meraviglia   
Year Built: 2017
Capacity: 4,500 guests
Location: Florida Coast

As part of its service return preparations, the MSC Meraviglia docked in Miami recently. The U.S.-based ship is set to resume guest operations in the region on August 2.

MSC Seaside
Year Built: 2017
Capacity: 4,140 guests
Location: Western Mediterranean

Another MSC ship back in service, the MSC Seaside is presently sailing in the Western Mediterranean. The vessel offers seven-night cruises in the region, visiting Italy and Malta.    

MSC Preziosa 
Year Built: 2013
Capacity: 3,500 guests
Location: Naples, Italy

The MSC Preziosa remains docked in the Port of Naples, Italy. Until late 2020, the Fantasia-class ship was spending the operational pause in the Bahamas, along other U.S.-based MSC ships.  

MSC Divina
Year Built: 2012
Capacity: 3,500 guests
Location: Civitavecchia, Italy

After a visit to Augusta, the MSC Divina returned to Civitavecchia earlier this month.

MSC Magnifica
Year Built: 2010
Capacity: 2,550 guests
Location: Eastern Mediterranean

The MSC Magnifica welcomed the passengers back on June 20, offering cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean. The vessel is currently sailing from Venice, on a seven-night itinerary with calls in Bari, Piraeus, Mykonos and Split.  

MSC Splendida
Year Built: 2009
Capacity: 3,300 guests
Location: Eastern Mediterranean

Sailing from Trieste, the MSC Splendida resumed service on June 12. The Fantasia-class ship is now offering seven-night cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean, with calls in Greece, Croatia and more.

MSC Fantasia
Year Built: 2008
Capacity: 3,300 guests
Location: Malta

The MSC Fantasia is presently in Malta. The vessel recently docked in the port of La Valletta, near the Palumbo Group Shipyard, which was partly acquired by MSC in 2020.

MSC Poesia
Year Built: 2008
Capacity: 2,550 guests
Location: Trieste, Italy

The MSC Poesia is currently docked in Trieste, Italy, along with the MSC Sinfonia.

MSC Orchestra
Year Built: 2007
Capacity: 2,550 guests
Location: Eastern Mediterranean  

On June 5, the MSC Orchestra became the first MSC ship to resume service in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Musica-class ship is currently sailing from Venice, offering a seven-night itinerary to Greece and Croatia.   

MSC Musica
Year Built: 2006
Capacity: 2,550 guests
Location: Genoa, Italy

After some time in Augusta, in Southern Italy, the MSC Musica recently arrived in Genoa. The vessel is currently docked at the Ponte dei Mille Cruise Terminal.   

MSC Opera
Year Built: 2004
Capacity: 1,712 guests
Location: Augusta, Italy

The MSC Opera is anchored off the Port of Augusta, in the island of Sicily, Italy. 

MSC Lirica
Year Built: 2003
Capacity: 1,560 guests
Location: La Valletta, Malta

After suffering a fire incident in Corfu in April, the MSC Lirica is currently in Malta. The ship is docked near the Palumbo Group Shipyard, in La Valletta.

MSC Sinfonia  
Year Built: 2002
Capacity: 1,554 guests
Location: Trieste, Italy

Along with the MSC Poesia, the MSC Sinfonia is docked in Trieste. The vessel arrived in Italy in December, from Brazil.

MSC Armonia
Year Built: 2001

Capacity: 1,554 guests
Location: Ocean Cay, the Bahamas

The MSC Armonia is currently near Ocean Cay, MSC’s private island in the Bahamas. As the other U.S.-based vessels of the fleet, it has been spending the operational pause in the region.  

MSC Launches Large Air Program for Passenger Sailings

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MSC Cruises has announced that it has chartered “the industry’s largest air charter program” for summer 2021 to make more ports of embarkation easily and safely accessible from a range of European countries.

Guests will have access to a seamless journey from their homes to the ship for their holidays at sea, all under the protection of the company’s industry-leading health and safety program now extended to also cover air travel.

This opens up a wide choice of ports, ships and itineraries this summer for MSC Cruises’ guests from Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland for sailings in the West Mediterranean, East Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

“As more of our fleet continues to return to service this summer, and our returning and new guests look to plan their holidays on one of our ships across Europe, we felt we had to respond to the impact that the pandemic has had on many airlines. As many are still not yet operating with a normal flight timetable, we wanted to give our guests from across Europe the peace of mind that they can reach their embarkation port in a seamless and safe way,” said Gianni Onorato, the CEO of MSC Cruises.

MSC Cruises’ industry-leading health and safety protocol will be extended to apply to the chartered flights, which will be operated together with some of Europe’s leading airlines.

“We have utilized the experience gained since we returned to operations last August and will work with our aviation partners to apply our industry-leading health and safety protocol to the charter flights so that we extend also to that portion of the guest journey the social bubble of the ship. This is yet another example of how we are pushing boundaries and delivering another industry-first to provide our guests with the confidence and the peace of mind that they need to be able to fully enjoy their holiday with us,” Onorato added.

MSC Cruises has committed to charter flights between July and October – more than 26,000 seats – from airlines, including Iberia, Alitalia, Air France, Eurowings and Neos, to fly from convenient and accessible airports across Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland so that guests can arrive at convenient times at an airport close to their embarkation port ahead of the start of their cruise holiday.

With many airlines having to alter their flight schedules at relatively short notice as a result of changing travel restrictions MSC Cruises decided to take charge of the situation and charter aircraft to assure its guests that their air transport connections will take off as planned and their holiday plans won’t be affected. MSC Cruises this summer will operate eight ships in Europe, six of which benefit from this full and rich fly and cruise program.

MSC Virtuosa just entering the River Mersey, Liverpool taken by Dave Jones

These are:

Western Mediterranean – MSC Grandiosa and MSC Seaside

Eastern Mediterranean – MSC Splendida, MSC Orchestra and MSC Magnifica

Northern Europe – MSC Seaview

Once guests land at airports they will then travel to the port ready for embarkation using private MSC Cruises transfers that are protected with the same high standards of MSC Cruises’ industry-leading health and safety protocol onboard its fleet of ships and now onboard its chartered planes.

In a further commitment to offer stress-free holidays and ensure the well-being of its guests for summer sailings, MSC Cruises has also worked with Europe’s largest insurance provider Europe Assistance to have a COVID-19 protection plan in place, priced at Euros €25 per person to cover guests before, during and after a cruise

Passengers on Mediterranean cruise test positive for covid-19

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Two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus during routine checks aboard a Mediterranean cruise this week, MSC Cruises said.

The passengers, who were asymptomatic, got their positive test results on Monday, according to MSC Cruises spokesman Luca Biondolillo. They were not travelling together on the MSC Seaside. Biondolillo said the individuals and their travelling groups, as well as close contacts, were immediately isolated, and no one aside from the original two passengers tested positive.

According to the Times of Malta, the vessel was not allowed to make a regular call-in to Malta’s Valletta cruise port Monday. Instead, Biondolillo said, the ship made a “technical call” — where passengers don’t disembark — and then resumed its regular schedule with a stop in Sicily.

Both passengers and their parties left the ship in Siracusa, on the island of Sicily, and were taken home “by protected MSC Cruises transport” Tuesday, the cruise company said. The ship continued its normal schedule after the Siracusa stop.

“All of this took place in line with the protocol and in coordination with the local health authorities,” Biondolillo said in an email Wednesday.

Passengers on MSC ships are not required to be vaccinated, but they have to undergo several tests: two to three days before leaving for a cruise, just before getting on the ship and midway through the cruise, Biondolillo said.

“If anything, this is another demonstration that the protocol works,” he said.

The company started sailing in the Mediterranean in August 2020 and has seen “a handful such cases” since, Biondolillo said, adding that “many thousands” of passengers have sailed safely.

Cruise ships have slowly started service again around the world, but still have not resumed in the United States since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shut the industry down last March. The agency is not requiring cruise ships to sail with vaccinated passengers but will allow those with at least 95 per cent of vaccinated crew and guests to skip test cruises meant to show how they will deal with covid-19 risks.

The first cruise from U.S. shores with paying passengers is scheduled to set sail later this month. The Celebrity Cruises ship will require everyone 16 and older to be fully vaccinated — a condition that comes into conflict with a Florida law that says businesses can’t ask for proof of vaccination status.

MSC Cruises, which is headquartered in Geneva, announced this week that it plans to start short cruises on MSC Meraviglia from Miami to the Bahamas on Aug. 2. The company recently got approval from the CDC to conduct a test cruise on that vessel.

The company said it will “welcome both vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests,” with those who are not vaccinated subject to additional testing and restrictions. Rubén Rodriguez, president of MSC Cruises USA, said in a statement that he expects the majority of passengers will be vaccinated.

“The rapid distribution of vaccines in the U.S. has been a positive step toward helping vacationers get back to travelling, and we encourage our guests to take advantage of this added layer of protection when resuming travel this summer,” he said.