Following the recent tension in Gaza and Israel, MSC Cruises has announced that it has made changes to their sailings for the upcoming season.
In a statement released by the cruise line, they revealed that it added a new itinerary for the MSC Orchestra for this winter. It replaces the Red Sea itineraries that had been cancelled due to the proximity of some of the ports of call to Israel and the restrictions in place in some bordering countries.
MSC Cruises said the ship will now offer seven-night voyages from 16 December to 19 April, 2024.
This includes callings for Valencia, Spain; Cagliari, Sardinia; Civitavecchia for Rome, Livorno for Pisa and Florence, Italy; Marseille, France and Palma in Mallorca before returning to Valencia.
And in light of these changes, the cruise line said that that the safety of its passengers and crew “is always its utmost priority during an evolving situation”. They also said that they would continue to monitor the situation and modify ship itineraries if necessary.
Meanwhile, in October, MSC Cruises revised the East Mediterranean itineraries for MSC Sinfonia and MSC Musica in light of the geo-political situation in Israel.
In a statement issued by the cruise line at the time, it said MSC Sinfonia’s future eight 11-night voyages will see Haifa, Israel, replaced by Istanbul in Turkey, which also means Rhodes will be replaced by Piraeus, Greece, and Izmir in Turkey will be replaced by Limassol, Cyprus.
Full details of the new itineraries are available on their website.