Norwegian Cruise Line has announced its 2022 new build will carry the name, Norwegian Prima.
The ship is due to enter service after being delivered from Fincantieri next summer and is one of six in a new class of ships.
The ship is also expected to sail in Europe next summer before crossing to the Caribbean.
Norwegian said it would announce more news regarding the new ship on Wednesday, but has already confirmed the ship will sail in the Caribbean for winter 2022-2023, on five-, seven- and nine-day cruises.
In 2023 the ship will sail from New York City to Bermuda on five- and seven-day cruises from March through May, before heading to Iceland and Northern Europe for the summer season, offering a 10- and 11-day program from Reykjavik or Southampton.
MSC Cruises has announced new and updated itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe for this coming summer with six ships back in operation in the Western and Eastern Mediterranean and four more ships cruising in Northern Europe.
Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said: “Today we have clarity on which European destinations and ports will initially be open this summer and we have fully reflected this into the first set of new and updated itineraries for the upcoming season so that guests can book their holidays with us with confidence. The entire MSC Cruises team and I look forward to welcoming both returning and new guests onboard one of our ships that will be at sea this summer and to provide them with a memorable, relaxing and, above all, safe holiday.
“Plus, I am confident that in the coming weeks we will be able to further enrich some of these itineraries as well as add more ships with new ones, as more ports and tourist destinations, in particular in Spain and France, become available to receive ships and visitors.”
Western Mediterranean
The MSC Grandiosa will initially extend her current seven-night itinerary, calling at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples, Palermo as well as Valletta, Malta. The Spanish ports of Valencia and Barcelona will be added to the ship’s current itinerary as soon as these destinations confirm their availability.
The MSC Seaside will commence sailing on May 1 from Genoa calling at the newly introduced ports of Siracusa in Sicily and Taranto in Puglia, as well as Civitavecchia for Rome and Valetta in Malta. The ship’s itinerary will then be enriched with calls to the French port of Marseille as soon as its availability is confirmed, the company said. In addition to the range of protected excursions developed for MSC Seaside’s itinerary, MSC Cruises will introduce a special private beach experience in Taranto, exclusively for the ship’s guests.
The MSC Seashore will join the MSC Cruises fleet at the end of July, and from August 1 until October 31, offer seven-night cruises calling the Italian ports of Genoa, Naples and Messina, as well as Valletta in Malta, Barcelona in Spain and Marseille in France. After her season in the Mediterranean, MSC Seashore will then arrive in Miami in November 2021 to begin sailing The Bahamas and Caribbean, including stops at MSC Cruises’ private Bahamian destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
Eastern Mediterranean
The MSC Orchestra will now depart on June 5 with embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays, calling at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia.
The MSC Splendida will begin sailing from June 12 with embarkation in Trieste, Italy on Saturdays and in Bari on Tuesdays, calling at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu in Greece and Kotor in Montenegro.
The MSC Magnifica will start cruising June 20 offering embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays and calling at the Greek Island of Mykonos and Split, Croatia.
Northern Europe
The all-new MSC Virtuosa will run inaugural season in the UK and offer mini cruises from Southampton calling at Portland in Dorset. Starting on June 12, the new vessel will operate seven-night cruises from Southampton with embarkation in Liverpool, Greenock for Glasgow and also calling at Portland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. These cruises are designed for British residents only. The sailings are open to vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests and all guests will be tested prior to embarkation.
The MSC Seaview will homeport in Kiel, Germany starting on June 19, replacing the MSC Virtuosa.
The MSC Preziosa is set to cruise from June 21 from Hamburg, Germany and the MSC Musica on June 20 from Warnemunde, Germany, if the German ports are open, MSC announced.
Onorato noted: “We are extremely proud to be in a position to offer our guests and travel agent partners for the coming summer a growing choice of cruise holidays to a range of different destinations across the Mediterranean and Europe. We will be featuring some of our most innovative and more modern vessels in our fleet. And to make it even easier and safer for our guests to reach our ships from closer to their homes, all our itineraries will feature additional ports of embarkation. In the Mediterranean alone, MSC Cruises will offer its guests up to 15 ports of embarkation. MSC Worldclass due 22/23
“Albeit these ships represent only an initial portion of our fleet, they include our two latest jewels, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, both of which will have come into service for the first time in 2021. Their presence in this next phase of the return at sea of our fleet in the coming weeks represents our belief in the continued attractiveness for the consumer of cruises as a holiday option. This is why we have confirmed our plans for new builds for the coming years and are looking forward to a gradual return at some of our full fleet in the coming months into the winter season.
“Guests who have vouchers for our cruises that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic ashore have waited patiently for a level of certainty about which ships will sail and where. I am pleased to say that they can now look forward with confidence to an incredible holiday at sea on an MSC Cruises ship either this summer or over the upcoming winter season.”
Copenhagen won’t be getting a new cruise terminal in 2022, as the port originally promised.
“A very significantly changed cruise market, due to the crisis with the coronavirus pandemic, means that Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP) will postpone the establishment of what was planned to be a new cruise terminal at Copenhagen’s Oceankaj,” the port said, in a statement.
“This is, it goes without saying, extremely regrettable, including of course also to the parties involved in the tendering process, that the investment in a new cruise terminal is being postponed. Until a few months ago, we saw a healthy 2020 with a record number of port calls from cruise ships with almost a million guests visiting Copenhagen. However, with the arrival of the crisis accompanying the coronavirus pandemic, the brakes have suddenly been put on global growth – including in Copenhagen, where forecasts indicate that the 2020 cruise season will be entirely cancelled, followed by some uncertainty in the next few years. The new terminal was to confirm Copenhagen’s position as a hub for cruise tourism in northern Europe, however now we will simply have to wait for the situation to reverse so that we can again focus on developing sustainable cruise tourism for the benefit of the entire region as a whole,” said Barbara Scheel Agersnap, CEO of Copenhagen Malmö Port.
The port said it will be in a wait and see approach, and “will decide when the process for a new cruise terminal will be relaunched.”
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