The port of Barcelona reopened during the weekend for international cruises when MSC Grandiosa became the first ship to take Spanish guests and vacationers from other Schengen countries.
The 7-night cruise calls at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples and Palermo, plus Valetta, Malta.
“Barcelona is an integral part of our year-round itineraries in the Mediterranean and to see it reopen for our guests from Spain and other countries in Europe is extremely gratifying,” says Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, in a press statement. “This was a very welcome addition to the ever-increasing number of ports that are opening for business after such a long pause in operations. As the first cruise line to offer international cruises from Spain we are sure that our Spanish guests will enjoy the convenience of embarkation in Barcelona on Saturdays and enjoy the popular itinerary that MSC Grandiosa offers in the Mediterranean.”
In addition, earlier this month the cruise line received the official approval to operate and manage an exclusive 125,615 sq. ft. cruise terminal, which is due for completion in 2024.
MSC Cruises’ restart in Barcelona follows approvals by the relevant Spanish authorities for the cruise line’s health and safety protocol, which was designed and introduced in August 2020 to protect the wellbeing of guests, crew and communities visited by its fleet of ships.
MSC Grandiosa’s itinerary from the end of July will see the addition of another Spanish port, Valencia with embarkation on Fridays. The ship will then call Barcelona, and sail to the Italian ports of Genoa, La Spezia for Florence and Pisa, and Civitavecchia for Rome.
More ports will reopen in the coming weeks across Europe and MSC Cruises’ phased restart of operations is continuing as planned with the the cruise line offering a choice of six different ships and itineraries this summer across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
MSC Seaview will start Baltic Sea cruises beginning July 3 from her homeport of Kiel in Germany with 7-night sailings to Sweden and Estonia and MSC Seaside on July 4 will mark the official reopening of Marseille, France to cruising.
MSC Magnifica resumed sailings last week in the East Mediterranean and will join MSC Splendida and MSC Orchestra in the region. MSC Virtuosa since May 20 has operated cruises around the UK for British guests only.
MSC Meraviglia will resume sailings on August 2 in The Bahamas from Miami, featuring MSC Cruises’ private island destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. She will be joined by MSC Divina for 3, 4 and 7-night cruises to The Bahamas and Caribbean from Orlando (Port Canaveral) starting September 18.
MSC Seashore will come into service in August with voyages in the West Mediterranean before the cruise line’s newest journeys to her new homeport in Miami for cruises to The Bahamas and Caribbean.
MSC Euribia Begins Construction
In addition, today MSC Cruises began the stat of constructions for it’s most environmentally-advanced ship to date, and announced the new name—MSC Euribia. The new ship is expected to come into service in June 2023 and will be the second ship to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG)—the cleanest marine fuel available. The first ship using LNG is MSC World Europa, which is currently under construction in Saint Nazaire and set to enter service in October 2022. A third ship is expected to begin construction in early 2023.
For more information, visit msccruisesusa.com.
For more cruise updates, click here. And don’t miss, “6 Cruise Lines: New Ships & Itineraries.”
