MSC Cruises Will Sail Seaside in the Mediterranean Starting in May
by Daniel McCarthy
MSC Seaside will kick off a Mediterranean season starting in May. Photo: Ivan Sarfatti.
Even as uncertainty remains for cruising’s North American restart, some lines are continuing to expand their offerings where they can.
On Monday, MSC Cruises announced that it would bring MSC Seaside to the Mediterranean for a season of sailings starting on May 1. Seaside will join MSC Grandiosa, which has been sailing the Mediterranean since last August.
Seaside will offer a brand-new, seven-night itinerary that includes stops in Genoa and Valetta in Malta along with Siracusa in Sicily and Taranto in Puglia, two first-time ports of call for MSC. Both Seaside and Grandiosa will only welcome guests from the 26 Schengen countries along with Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania.
Seaside, like Grandiosa, will welcome guests under MSC’s health and safety protocol that includes universal testing at embarkation and mid-cruise, weekly testing of the crew, social distancing, face mask requirements in public spaces, and “only protected shore excursions.”
Grandiosa, for its part, will continue sailing the Mediterranean until at least the end of May, calling at Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo, and Valetta. So far, the ship has been able to successfully sail more than 40,000 guests since its return to sailing.
