MSC Cruises Ramps Up Restart with 10 Ships Set to Sail this Summer

MSC Cruises, one of the first cruise lines to successfully restart post-pandemic shutdown, announced on Thursday that it would continue that return to service with additional ships and new itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe this summer.

MSC will add three ships in the West Mediterranean—Grandiosa, Seaside, and Seashore—along with three additional ships in the East Mediterranean—Orchestra, Splendida, and Magnifica—and three more ships in Northern Europe and Germany—Seaview, Preziosa, and Virtuosa.

The lineup includes a total of 15 different ports of embarkation in the Mediterranean alone, including drive ports for European guests. It also includes “some of our most innovative and more modern vessels in our fleet,” Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises CEO said, including Virtuosa and Seashore, both of which will come into service for the first time in 2021.

While the line also announced that it would not sail from U.S. ports until at least July 2021 (MSC and the rest of the cruise lines are still dealing with the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order), Thursday’s announcement provides more clarity on how the line will boost service coming out of the pandemic.

“Today we have clarity on which European destinations and ports will initially be open this summer and we have fully reflected this into a first set of new and updated itineraries for the upcoming season so that guests can book their holidays with us with confidence,” Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises CEO said in a statement announcing the news.

Onorato also said that the team at MSC is “confident” that the line could add capacity in the coming weeks, including more ships and more ports such as those in Spain and France as they “become available to receive ships and visitors.”

All of the new sailings will operate under the same health and safety protocols that MSC deployed to its previous post-pandemic sailings in the Mediterranean, which have been operating since August 2020. Those cruises have already successfully sailed over 60,000 guests.

The full health and safety requirements can be found here. There are no vaccination requirements; however, there are restrictions on international guests for some of the sailings. The Grandiosa and Seaside sailings in the upcoming months will only welcome guests from the European “Schengen” countries along with Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia.

All guests will be required to complete a health questionnaire and report any symptoms or exposure to COVID-19 in the 14 days prior to embarkation. At the terminal, guests will then be required to undergo a contactless temperature check and a COVID-19 screening (antigen swab test). Depending on the screening results, guests may participate in a secondary review with medical professionals or be denied boarding.

Itineraries
The full list of ships and itineraries are:

• Grandiosa will continue to sail 7-night itineraries calling at Genoa, Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples, Palermo, and Valletta, with Valencia and Barcelona to come.
• Seaside will start from Genoa on May 1, sailing to Siracusa in Sicily and Taranto in Puglia, as well as Civitavecchia for Rome and Valetta in Malta. Marseille will then be added later.
• Seashore will kick off its debut season at the end of July and will offer 7-night sailings through Oct. 31 that include calls at Genoa, Naples, and Messina, as well as Valletta in Malta, Barcelona in Spain, and Marseille in France. MSC says the ship will then move to Miami in November 2021.
• Orchestra, starting July 5, will sail out of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays, calling at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia.
• Splendida will start on June 12, sailing out of Trieste, Italy on Saturdays and in Bari on Tuesdays, calling at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu in Greece, and Kotor in Montenegro.
• Magnifica will kick off its season on June 20, offering embarkation from Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays, and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays, with calls at Mykonos and Split, Croatia.
• Virtuosa will continue sailing domestic U.K. itineraries for British guests only.
• Seaview will sail out of Kiel, Germany starting on June 19.
• Preziosa will start its season on June 21 from Hamburg and will be joined by Musica on June 20, only if German ports are open.