MSC Preziosa will sail a winter season of northern European cruises from Southampton

Posted on 3 February, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

Preziosa will arrive in early October offering itineraries visiting five European cities, with its 2022/23 winter season due to run through to April 2023.

Sales will open in the coming days, said MSC. Preziosa will replace MSC Virtuosa, which will sail in summer 2022 from Southampton.

Virtuosa’s season will get underway with a Guernsey mini-cruise departing 29 April and will wrap up with a final Mediterranean sailing scheduled to depart on 4 November.

MSC managing director the UK and Ireland, Antonio Paradiso, said Preziosa’s deployment from Southampton underlined MSC’s commitment to the UK market and travel trade.

“We are proud that we are providing agents with such a variety of products to sell in the ex-UK space this year,” said Paradiso. “Sailing MSC Virtuosa from Southampton last year allowed us a great opportunity to access the new-to-cruise market, which made up 50% of our sales for summer 2021.”

Preziosa will offer a seven-night winter itinerary featuring five European city destinations, with calls in Hamburg, Zeebrugge (for Bruges and Brussels), Rotterdam (for Amsterdam) and Le Havre (for Paris).

MSC CRUISES PARENT OPENS TALKS TO BUY ITALIAN AIRLINE

Posted on 24 January, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

MSC Group has told the Italian government it is interested in acquiring a majority stake in the new carrier ITA Airways.

ITA was born after the demise of Alitalia and MSC aims to create a partnership with the Italian government and Lufthansa as the project’s “industrial partner”.

MSC said: “Lufthansa has already expressed its interest in taking part in the initiative.”

Both parties now enter a 90-day period of exclusivity when the Italian government, which established ITA, will examine their proposal. Regulators will also examine the bid for any competition issues.

MSC added: “MSC Group’s interest derives from the possibility of activating positive synergies for both companies in the cargo and passenger sectors where the MSC Group is a global leader.”

MSC Cruises has opened bookings for its second Seaside Evo-class ship, MSC Seascape.

Posted on 19 January, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

The line's second Seaside Evo-class ship is due to launch from Miami in December 2022

The 5,877-passenger ship, a sister to MSC Seashore, is currently under construction in Italy and set to be delivered in late November.

Seascape will begin operating its inaugural season from Miami the following month offering two choices of a seven-night itinerary to different parts of the Caribbean.

An Eastern Caribbean sailing will call at MSC’s Ocean Cay marine reserve and Nassau in the Bahamas, San Juan in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, Seascape’s Western Caribbean voyages will also visit Ocean Cay, as well as Cozumel in Mexico, George Town in the Cayman Islands and Ocho Rios in Jamaica.

The ship is set to feature 11 dining venues, 19 bars and lounges, and six swimming pools, and offer the largest MSC Yacht Club area in the line’s fleet.

All MSC Voyagers Club members booking Seascape before 31 January will benefit from their customary 5% discount, plus a further 5% early booking discount and enjoy double Voyagers Club points.

Members from Silver to Diamond will also earn a shipboard credit of €50pp.

All guests booking before 31 March will have the option to reschedule their cruise free of charge up to 15 days prior to departure.

MSC has also opened sales for two other US-based ships next winter, MSC Divina homeporting in PortMiami and MSC Meraviglia sailing out of Port Canaveral.