Tag Archives: MSC

MSC Cruises to Increase Dominance in Europe

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MSC Magnifica in Queensferry Edinburgh, Photo credit Spacejnkie2

The European market will increase by dominated by MSC Cruises, according to the 2022 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

By 2027 MSC will not only have the most passenger cruise capacity in Europe but also be the single largest brand, based on its new build program and projected ship deployments.

MSC Cruises, including its Explora Journeys brand, will have a total passenger capacity of 4.3 million in Europe in 2027, compared to 4.0 million for Carnival Corporation brands and 1.5 million for the TUI Group.

In addition, would be ships deployed from Carnival’s North American brands and by the Royal Caribbean Group, but their passenger sourcing, pending circumstances, is primarily from the U.S.

From 2022 to 2027, MSC will see its capacity grow by 36.2 per cent, Carnival by 3.3 per cent and the TUI Group by 41.7 per cent.

MSC is a pan-European brand, along with Costa Cruises, while national brands dominate some markets, such as P&O in the UK, AIDA and TUI in Germany.

The market capacity of the Europe-based brands is estimated at 9.2 million passengers this year and is projected to grow to 11 million by 2027.

CDC Scraps Cruise Ship COVID Warning After 2 Years

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Norwegian Jade photo credit Spacejunkie2

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday removed its COVID-19 notice against cruise travel, around two years after introducing a warning scale showing the level of coronavirus transmission risk on cruise ships.

The move offers a shot of hope to major U.S. cruise operators such as Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd that have struggled to bring in revenue since the pandemic started.

Cruise operators had also said the health agency was discriminating against the industry when hotels and airlines could operate with limited or no restrictions.

“While cruising will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission, travellers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings,” the CDC said in a statement. 

The guidelines for travelling on cruise ships on the health agency’s page no longer shows a scale for its warning. Instead, it now only says guests should make sure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines before boarding the ships.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

MSC Cruises will base MSC Grandiosa in Southampton next year

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MSC Cruises will base MSC Grandiosa in Southampton next year with a spring/summer deployment comprising 23 departures.

The Meraviglia Plus-class vessel is a sister to MSC Virtuosa, which sailed from the UK in summer 2021 and is due to return in April.

Grandiosa’s 2023 season will comprise a variety of itineraries including mini cruises to Rotterdam and Bruges, as well as longer voyages in the Mediterranean and to the Canary Islands.

Antonio Paradiso, MSC’s the UK and Ireland managing director, said the line “have been delighted” with the response from the British and Irish market to Virtuosa and looked forward to “bringing another of our largest and most-loved ships” to Southampton.

“We have seen strong demand for the itineraries for this year with a particular interest in the two 14-night sailings to the Mediterranean taking place in the school summer holidays and as a result have replicated many of these itineraries ready for the 2023 season,” said Paradiso.

He urged guests and agents to book early and “take advantage of the great rates” during the programme’s early booking window.

“Cruise has always been unique when it comes to early booking, our guests will happily book a number of different cruises several years in advance to secure their holiday, and we are thrilled to be able, once again, to provide them with the opportunity to book early,” Paradiso added.