In a strong indication that the cruise channel is planning for better days ahead, MSC Cruises recently unveiled details of its Summer 2022 season.
In what Adrian Pittaway, Head of Retail at MSC Cruises calls “a real game changer and a clear commitment to lead in the Chinese cruise market,” MSC Cruises also announced that it will operate two ships in China for the first time next year, with the MSC Virtuosa scheduled to join her sister ship MSC Bellissima, which will begin sailing in China this year. Previously, MSC had operated one ship in China, where it first launched in 2016.
Outside of China, the MSC Summer 2022 program (April to November) offers 124 ports of call, in 47 countries with 83 Mediterranean, Caribbean and Northern Europe itineraries.
Five ships will spend the summer in Northern Europe. Ten ships will be deployed in the Mediterranean. In the U.S. MSC will offer two ships and two homeports with Miami and Port Canaveral embarkations.
The Caribbean
MSC Seashore, an MSC flag-ship, will homeport in Miami and offer two alternative itineraries to Eastern or Western Caribbean offered every other week. MSC Divina will home-port in Port Canaveral, sailing to Ocean Cay, Nassau with 2, 3- or 4-night cruises and Ocean Cay and Mexico with 7-night cruises.
Both MSC Cruises ships will call at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, the company’s private island destination in The Bahamas. MSC Divina will also offer a 12-night cruise at the start of the summer season, embarking in Miami, visiting Jamaica, Aruba, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Ocean Cay before finishing at Port Canaveral.