MSC Cruises is deploying MSC Seaside to the Mediterranean for the first time, with the vessel scheduled to join MSC Grandiosa in the region from 1 May 2021.
MSC Seaside is designed for warm weather itineraries, with plenty of outdoor spaces from where guests can soak up the warm weather.
The ship – which features MSC’s ‘ship-within-a-ship’ luxury product, MSC Yacht Club – will offer citizens from Schengen a seven-night itinerary from Genoa to Valetta in Malta, Civitavecchia (Rome), as well as two new destinations – Taranto in Puglia and Siracusa in Sicily.
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In Taranto, MSC has developed a special offering so that MSC Seaside guests can spend a day at the beach safely, with lidos that are exclusively available for the use of MSC Cruises’ guests. Here, guests will be able to enjoy a day relaxing day at a Blue Flag beach that offers fine sand and a gentle southern breeze at the edge of the clear blue waters of the Ionian Sea – a rival to any Caribbean beach.
A range of other ‘protected’ shore excursions will also be available from Taranto.
“As we continue to offer one of the safest ways to take a holiday, we knew that we needed to make sure that we delivered on all of the elements of a summer holiday and this meant finding a way to enable our guests to also spend a day at the beach, whilst ensuring that the same high standards of health and safety were implemented ashore as they are on board,” MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato said.
“We have worked to privatise three lidos with all the facilities of a beach club so that our guests can enjoy this beautiful stretch of coast in Puglia, close to Taranto. With this, we have also established a blueprint for this type of experience and we will now work to introduce more private beach experiences at other destinations this summer.”
MSC Seaside’s current itinerary has been extended through to the end of July along with MSC Grandiosa’s current itinerary. The itineraries on both ships are currently available to residents from Schengen countries and Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.
Recently, Onorato revealed MSC Cruises has plans to welcome international passengers aboard the two vessels in the Mediterranean once rules between Schengen countries and European nations are aligned.
Meanwhile, MSC Seashore will operate a collection of seven-night cruises from Barcelona, Spain from 1 August until 31 October. Those sailings will call at ports including Genoa, Naples, Messina, Marseille and Malta.