MSC Cruises Cancels Sailings to Avoid Red Sea Transit

MSC Cruises has canceled three repositioning “Grand Voyage” sailings scheduled for South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to Europe, to avoid ongoing attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea. (The most recent attack occurred Jan. 16, 2024 according to the BBC.)

Among the sailings canceled are a 24-night cruise onboard MSC Splendida from Durban, South Africa to Genoa; a 21-night sailing of MSC Opera from Dubai, UAE to Genoa; and a 23-night voyage of MSC Virtuosa from Dubai to Southampton, UK. The three ships will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers onboard, sailing via the west coast of Africa with no stops.

All passengers booked on the three Grand Voyages are being contacted and may transfer their booking to a future Grand Voyage of similar duration for free. Alternatively, affected passengers can rebook to any other cruise in the company’s global deployment, with either a partial refund or additional payment for the difference in price of the original booking. Affected cruises may also choose a full refund with no cancellation fee.

Silversea has also canceled at least one voyage – the Jan. 16 sailing of Silver Moon that was due to sail from Muscat, Oman to Dubai.