MSC CRUISES TO SAIL YEAR ROUND FROM THE UK IN 2018

The idea has been a subject for gossip for several years, but now it is confirmed as fact; in 2018, an MSC Cruises ship will sail round trip from Southampton on an almost full year of cruises. Beginning in March and finshing in October, the 92,000 ton MSC Magnifica will sail on a series of seven to fourteen night cruises to Spain, Portugal, and ports in northern and western Europe.

In a kind of 'dry run' for this extended season, MSC will send the much larger MSC Preziosa to Southampton in the autumn of 2017, in order to get an insight into the day to day workings of such cruises and, just as likely, to gain some idea of what passenger demand might be like. For sure, the line will be looking for feedback that can enhance the appeal of the longer, more robust season offered on Magnifica in 2018.

What can British passengers expect from MSC Magnifica? She's a big, beautifully decorated ship that caters to a large, family oriented, multi national market. Anyone expecting that these cruises will be sold to Brits only- and sales for these cruises open on Monday, November 21st- will be in for a bit of a culture shock.

MSC Magnifica will sail on five different seven and fourteen night itineraries during her Southampton season. One of these is a spectacular, round Britain cruise that calls at such ports as Newcastle, Invergordon, and South Queensferry for Edinburgh. A Norwegian Fjords sailing serves up calls in Alesund, Bergen, Olden, and Stavanger.

Most attractive of the options in many ways, a fourteen night Coastal Europe voyage heads out to Le Havre, La Coruna, Leixoes (Oporto), Lisbon, Malaga, Amsterdam and Hamburg. I expect this one to sell pretty briskly when bookings open.

One aspect of these cruises worth noting is that the itineraries are very port intensive, with relatively short 'hops' between the places visited on each cruise. Indeed, Antonio Paradiso, managing director of MSC sales for the UK and Ireland, emphasised that very point when announcing these new itineraries.

And, while MSC Magnifica is, indeed, a big ship, she is still smaller and more intimate than other ships offering similar cruises in the same region. And with her on board, Italian styling in terms of food and service, the ship offers just about enough of an exotic twist to make her a more distinctive, different choice than the norm.