MSC Cruises Will Resume European Sailings this Week
by Daniel McCarthy /
After pausing because an Italian government decree during Christmas and New Year's, MSC Cruises will again launch its Mediterranean sailings this week.
MSC announced on Monday that MSC Grandiosa will return to sailing weekly western Mediterranean sailings out of Genoa, Italy on Jan. 24. The sailings, which have seen 30,000 safely sail since MSC restarted operations in the Mediterranean last summer, will continue to include stops at ports in Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo, and Valetta in Malta.
In North American, MSC is still working toward that restart. Last week, Michelle Lardizabal, MSC’s SVP and commercial sales officer, told Travel Market Report that MSC’s experience in Europe is going to help it once it is again allowed to sail out of North American ports.
“We’ve delivered incredible experiences for over 30,000 guests in Europe. We’ve proven that we’ve been able to provide a really great cruise experience along with a safe experience,” Lardizabal said.
North American MSC guests can expect to see a lot of those same protocols once things do resume, with additions and changes possible depending on guidance from the CDC.
Those protocols include universal testing off all crew members and passengers, a cut in capacity to 70% of original capacity, social distancing rules onboard, and new medical and emergency procedures.
MSC also has a new ship sailing in the U.S. later this year—Seashore, a ship that MSC says is an evolution of MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview, is set to debut in August. That ship, combined with the continued launch of Ocean Cay in the Bahamas, which was opened for about three months before the shutdown, is giving MSC a chance to look toward a very bright second half of 2021.