MSC Cruises will restart its sailing operations in Germany on 3 July with its first ever deployment of a Seaside class ship in the Baltic Sea and with a brand new itinerary for the region.
MSC Seaview will homeport in Kiel until September and offer 7-night voyages – all to include protected shore excursions – to Visby on Sweden’s largest island of Gotland, the port of Nynashamn for Swedish capital city Stockholm, and Estonia’s capital Tallinn, before returning to the northern Germany port.
Sailings aboard MSC Seaview will be available for guests of all ages from the Schengen area in Europe, plus residents of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said: “We are looking forward to the resumption of our cruises from Germany and provide our guests with an enjoyable, relaxing and safe cruise holiday on MSC Seaview, one of our most innovative ships.
A new itinerary with new ports of call
MSC Seaview will sail a brand-new itinerary which will provide guests with some outstanding destinations to visit ashore where they can safely discover the beauty of the Baltics.
Visby, the capital of the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with impressive medieval buildings. Stockholm is famous for its outstanding architecture and abundance of open water, and Tallinn is renowned for its monumental walls, towers and well-preserved ancient buildings.
Safety protocol
MSC Seaview will comply with MSC Cruises’ industry-leading health and safety protocol that was developed last year with input from international health experts, including MSC Cruises’ ‘COVID-19 Blue-Ribbon Expert Group’, and in close cooperation with health, safety and transport authorities throughout Europe.
Measures include universal testing at embarkation and mid-cruise, weekly testing of crew, social distancing, the wearing of masks in public areas and protected shore excursions.
Returning to sea
MSC Seaview’s Baltic Sea cruises are another step forward in MSC Cruises’ wider plans for a return to sea for its fleet of ships. MSC Grandiosa and MSC Seaside are currently sailing in the West Mediterranean and will be joined in August by MSC Seashore for her maiden season. The cruise line’s most recent addition MSC Virtuosa is set to start her own maiden season with voyages around the UK.
Three more ships will soon begin cruises in the East Mediterranean – MSC Orchestra, MSC Splendida and MSC Magnifica. With only a few ports in the Baltic and North Seas open for cruising this summer, MSC Cruises has been forced to cancel its proposed summer season sailings from the German ports of Warnemünde and Hamburg for MSC Preziosa and MSC Musica, respectively.