MSC Cruises has changed a total of 11 upcoming eastern Mediterranean itineraries for MSC Sinfonia and MSC Musica in light of the situation in Israel.
The line, which previously outlined some alterations to its sailings, described the safety of its passengers and crew as its “top priority”.
On MSC Sinfonia’s upcoming eight 11-night sailings from Genoa, the scheduled call at Haifa will be replaced with a stop in Istanbul, which will also mean Rhodes will be replaced by Piraeus, Greece, while Limassol, Cyprus, will be replaced by Izmir in Turkey.
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On MSC Musica’s three upcoming seven-night sailings from Piraeus in Greece, Haifa will be replaced by Rhodes on October 18 and 25, with Marmaris acting as the replacement on November 1.
MSC Cruises chief executive Gianni Onorato (pictured) said: “The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority and we have worked rapidly to revise the itineraries of MSC Sinfonia and MSC Musica to offer an extremely attractive alternative for the winter months.”
The line said it had started letting passengers and travel agents know about the changes.
It added that the MSC Cruises website will be updated to show the new itineraries.
The 11 altered sailings will operate between October 15 and January 6.
The affected MSC Musica departures are October 15, October 22 and October 29, while the impacted MSC Sinfonia departures are October 21, November 1, November 12, November 23, December 4, December 15, December 26 and January 6.