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Coronavirus: MSC Cruises cancels and amends raft of sailings

MSC Cruises has been forced to cancel and adjust itineraries on eight ships due to the coronavirus outbreak.

All sailings on MSC Opera have been scrapped until April 20 with passengers unable to embark in Italy.

In the Mediterranean, MSC Grandiosa will continue operating out of Barcelona without any calls to Italian ports.

MSC Divina’s Grand Voyage departing on March 20 from Miami to Genoa has been cancelled as well as three sailings in the Mediterranean on April 11, 18 and 25.

Following the United Arab Emirates’ decision to ban cruise ships from the country, the line has cancelled several itineraries on MSC Bellissima and MSC Lirica.


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MSC Bellissima’s seven-day Gulf cruise on March 14 and 29-day Grand Voyage from Dubai have both been cancelled.

MSC Lirica’s sailings up to April 11 and the Grand Voyage from Dubai on March 18 have also been pulled.

MSC Splendida will now call into Marseille on March 28 and Barcelona on March 29, rather than Civitavecchia and Genoa due to the nationwide lockdown in Italy.

The line’s ships deployed in South America have also been affected. MSC Fantasia currently sailing from Rio de Janeiro will arrive in Marseille on March 27 and will no longer call into Genoa and Civitavecchia on March 28 and March 29 as originally planned.

MSC Sinfonia’s Grand Voyage to Venice departing tomorrow has been cancelled. Affected passengers have been offered a sailing MSC Seaview from Santos, Brazil, to Barcelona instead.

A MSC spokesperson said: “These decisions reflect the situation as it continuously evolves.

“We are in contact with governments, health authorities and local authorities to monitor any news and we will keep adjusting our operations as often as required to protect the health of our guests and crew members.

“It’s worth noting however that as of today most of our fleet continues to operate as planned, and we have had no Covid-19 cases on our ships.”

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