Five major cruise companies will commit to using shore power on all cruises in the Baltic Sea from 2024 at the Sustainable Cruising conference hosted by business-to-business network Cruise Baltic, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 5 April.
Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, MSC Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises and Ponant will sign a memorandum of understanding at the conference, with the Danish minister for environment Lea Wermelin in attendance.
“We are extremely proud that these cruise lines now commit to shore power in the region, and it shows that the cruise industry is taking an important responsibility when it comes to sustainability,” said Claus Bødker, director of Cruise Baltic.
The Sustainable Cruise conference will take place at the Copenhagen Marriot Hotel and will feature talks by representatives of cruise lines and Baltic ports and destinations, along with Wermelin and the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Sophie Hæstorp Andersen.
From the end of May until October, the line’s four ships were due to operate Baltic Sea sailings which include St Petersburg – MSC Preziosa, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Poesia and MSC Virtuosa – will all suspend their calls to the city.
No MSC ships are currently calling at St Petersburg.
MSC said the health and safety of its passengers and crew was “a top priority” and that “since the onset” of the conflict in Ukraine, it had been in touch with alternative ports – such as Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn – to confirm new calls.
Carnival Corp brands P&O Cruises and Cunard amended their Baltic cruise itineraries in response to the escalating conflict, while other cruise lines and operators said they were “monitoring the situation closely”.
MSC said it would communicate the details of changes on each individual sailing to travel agents and customers “as soon as possible”.
MSC’s website will also be updated to reflect the confirmed details of new itineraries to “provide maximum clarity” for existing guests and future guests looking to book Baltic Sea sailings.
MSC Virtuosa entering the river Mersey, photo credit Spacejunkie2
The Meraviglia Plus-class vessel, which launched in the UK last year, will return at the end of April and operate 23 voyages until early November.
Itineraries range from five two-night mini cruises, including calls at Guernsey’s St Peter Port, to 12-night Baltic voyages and 14-night Western Mediterranean sailings.
Speaking to TTG, Antonio Paradiso, managing director UK and Ireland, said the extension decision had been made following agent and consumer requests for more ex-UK options around October half-term.
The four additional cruises will visit the Mediterranean, including a call in Palma de Mallorca, the East Atlantic visiting Portugal and Spain and a Canaries sailing during October half-term before Virtuosa repositions to Genoa.
“I think she’s now even more popular than Bellissima that we launched in Southampton – she’s become one of the UK’s favourite ships,” he said.
Paradiso added that ex-UK Southampton sailings had proven MSC’s “best-sold cruises” for 2022 with the line wanting to meet demand.
“Last year, after Virtuosa left the UK in mid-September, we realised there were more opportunities to take advantage of to stay later in the year,” he said. “We have an open dialogue with our trade partners and want to give them something they can really get behind and sell.
“We have the right ship and we’ve never had so much variety from the UK. There is a very nice mix of itineraries and I think we’re ticking all the boxes.”
The line is also extending its MSC Big Cruise Giveaway trade campaign – with a further 30 cabins to be won by the UK and Irish agents between 1-15 February.
Agents must book any sailing included as part of MSC’s all-inclusive wave promotion to be entered into the prize draw.
MSC Bellissima will finish its planned Red Sea itineraries homeporting in Jeddah on 26 March before repositioning to Dubai to take over from Virtuosa from 2 April as the ship heads to the UK.
Bellissima will then offer seven-night cruises calling in Sir Bani Yas and Doha through to 25 June – the first time MSC has had a ship in the region during the summer.
Paradiso said the move was a “win-win” for the UK and Irish market due to the popularity of both ships with customers.
Next month, MSC will launch a new TV advertising campaign, Only the Sea, featuring on ITV, Channel 4, Sky channels and video on-demand services. Paradiso said the month-long campaign could be extended if it proved successful.
“January was an opportunity for us to wait and see what things were going to look like. We’ve gathered as many insights as possible and now we want to gain momentum and leverage the demand we’re seeing,” he said.
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