Tag Archives: MSC Virtuosa

MSC Becomes First Cruise Line To Resume International Sailings From Barcelona

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The port of Barcelona reopened at the weekend for international cruises when the MSC Grandiosa became the first ship to embark with Spanish guests and holidaymakers from other Schengen countries.

This was announced by MSC Cruises in a press release.

The seven-night cruise holiday calls at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples and Palermo, plus Valetta, Malta.

“Barcelona is an integral part of our year-round itineraries in the Mediterranean and to see it reopen for our guests from Spain and other countries in Europe is extremely gratifying. This was a very welcome addition to the ever-increasing number of ports that are opening for business after such a long pause in operations. As the first cruise line to offer international cruises from Spain we are sure that our Spanish guests will enjoy the convenience of embarkation in Barcelona on Saturdays and enjoy the popular itinerary that MSC Grandiosa offers in the Mediterranean,” said MSC’s CEO Gianni Onorato.

According to the press release, the port of Barcelona is of strategic importance to MSC Cruises’ position as the market leader in Europe and earlier this month the company received the official approval to operate and manage an exclusive 11,670 squared-meter cruise terminal, which is due for completion in 2024.

MSC said that it worked together with Spanish national and local including the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Sanidad) and Ports of the State (Puertos del Estado) to “ensure that the health and safety measures implemented as part of the restart met and exceeded all local and national regulations.” According to the cruise line, this includes arranging for guests who disembark in Barcelona to complete an antigen test within 48 hours of ending their cruise.

MSC’s health and safety protocol was first implemented in August 2020 when the MSC Grandiosa began sailing in the Mediterranean and, since then, the company has safely welcomed onboard tens of thousands of guests.

The Grandiosa’s itinerary from the end of July will see the addition of another important Spanish port, Valencia with embarkation on Fridays. The ship will then call Barcelona, and onto the Italian ports of Genoa, La Spezia for Florence and Pisa, and Civitavecchia for Rome.

More ports will reopen in the coming weeks across Europe and MSC Cruises’ phased restart of operations is “continuing as planned,” the cruise line said, with the company “offering a choice of six different ships and itineraries this summer across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.”

The MSC Seaview will start Baltic Sea cruises beginning July 3 from her homeport of Kiel in Germany with seven-night sailings to Sweden and Estonia and the MSC Seaside on July 4 will mark the official reopening of Marseille, France to cruising.

The MSC Magnifica resumed sailings last week in the East Mediterranean to join the MSC Splendida and MSC Orchestra in the region. The MSC Virtuosa since May 20 has been operating cruises around the UK for British guests only.

The MSC Meraviglia from Aug. 2 will resume Caribbean cruises from Miami and will be joined in the region from Sept. 18 when the MSC Divina restarts sailing from Port Canaveral near Orlando in Florida.

MSC’s Supply Chain and Fleet Certified for Highest Standards of Food Safety

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MSC Cruises has announced that it has become the industry’s first major line to have its entire food safety supply chain and fleet of ships certified for onboard food safety by the global International Organization for Standardization, commonly known as ISO.

The company heralded its celebratory success on the World Health Organization’s ‘World Food Safety Day 2021’ today, following the granting of the internationally acclaimed and recognized ISO22000 food safety management system certification for 17 of the Company’s ships.

“We’re extremely proud to be on top of the cruise industry’s league table for WHO’s World Food Safety Day with our fleet of ships and delighted that our entire food supply chain ‘from farm to fork’ has been certified,” said Genoa-based Managing Director of MSC Cruises’ Food and Beverage Division, Paolo Raia.

“We have demonstrated at MSC Cruises that our industry-leading health and safety protocol goes above and beyond what regulatory authorities demand, and it’s no different with food safety as we always strive to go one step further than what is required,” he added.

MSC’s two new vessels for 2021 – the MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore – are on track to be certified in the next few months, the cruise line said.

Onboard audits are undertaken by Bureau Veritas to verify that the highest standards of food safety are undertaken by MSC Cruises for its guests and crew. This year alone, MSC said, Bureau Veritas has conducted 36 separate audit days and examined more than 5,000 food safety records onboard the cruise line’s ships.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSC Cruises annually served up nearly 285 million dishes and poured more than 125 million drinks for its guests, according to a press release.

Raja said that food safety is “understandably” taken for granted within day-to-day society.

“A cruise ship needs to have a systematic, well-considered and planned approach in place to guarantee the food safety for guests and crew on board,” he said.

New MSC Ships As Green As Possible

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A wide range of technologies will be on display on MSC Cruises’ pair of 2021 newbuilds, the Seashore and Virtuosa.

According to Linden Coppell, director of sustainability, both ships will have hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems, selective catalytic reduction and shore power capability

Potable water will be generated aboard through reverse osmosis, and wastewater will be treated via the latest advanced technology.

“For every new class of ship, we really work on the energy and fuel efficiency piece,” she told Cruise Industry News, “making sure each new ship is as efficient as it can be.”

That means not only new systems but big data.

“For the Virtuosa, we are looking at how the Grandiosa is operating now and the results,” Coppell said. “We collect a lot of data from the ships and analyze it, and work with the shipyard.”

The company expects the Virtuosa to be more efficient than her sister vessel, the 2019-built Grandiosa.

“We are looking at internal (items), like the HVAC systems,” Coppell explained. “These are the big technology pieces, but then there is a lot of fine-tuning, adjusting and reporting back to the captain and his team.”

With the 5,200-guest World Europa debuting in 2022 and featuring not only LNG-fueled engines but also a fuel cell, MSC will underscore its leadership position in green cruising.

The World Europa will be MSC’s first ship powered by LNG and part of a series of five LNG-powered newbuilds.

The World Europa also features the first solid oxide fuel cell aboard a cruise ship, where LNG will help create heat and thus electricity for the hotel load through the fuel cell. The fuel cell is expected to be scaled over time from its initial 50KW output.