Brazil returns on the cruise map with the long-awaited popular cruises for the 2021/2022 season. So far two cruise lines have confirmed deployment of seven cruise ships arriving in November 2021. The ships expected for 2021/22 are Seaside, Splendida, Preziosa, Sinfonia, from MSC Cruises, and the cruise ships Smeralda and Fascinosa, from Costa Cruises.
MSC Cruises has changed crew mailing service policy limiting the delivery of packages for cruise ship employees onboard their ships sailing in Europe. According to a fellow crew member who shared a screenshot of an official MSC Cruises post, each employee is allowed to receive 2 packages per month with a maximum weight of 3 Kg or 6,6 Pounds per package.
Today MSC Cruises newest ship MSC Seashore, will set sail on her very first voyage from the port of Barcelona. MSC Seashore will depart Barcelona at around 6:30 pm with 1200 crew and about 3000 guests onboard. The ship will start her maiden voyage with a seven-night western Mediterranean itinerary including Marseille, Genoa, Naples, Messina and Valletta.
The Cruise Division of MSC Group has joined forces with Fincantieri and Snam to determine the conditions for the design and construction of the world’s first oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise ship. The partnership which will initially conduct a feasibility study to examine requirements to build the ship is part of MSC’s plan towards achieving net carbon neutral operations by 2050.
MSC Cruises plans a glamorous event in Dubai for the naming ceremony of the company's newest flagship MSC Virtuosa which will take place on November 27, 2021.
During the past year, the crew was not allowed to go out in ports and most of them haven’t step foot on land for the entire length of their contract. However, with the recent developments and vaccination of the shipboard employees, things are slowly starting to move in the right direction. I spoke with my fellow crew members to find out if the crew is allowed to go out in ports and if the cruise lines organize protected shore excursions for them.
MSC Cruises’ MSC Seaview has arrived today at her homeport Kiel ahead of the scheduled restart of cruises starting on July 3, as the first MSC cruise ship sailing out of Germany since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Today MSC Cruises announced the construction of its 22nd ship in the fleet at the steel cutting ceremony at Saint Nazaire shipyard in France. The latest ship will be named MSC Euribia after the ancient Greek goddess of the sea, entering in service in June 2023. The latest ship will be the most environmentally advanced vessel of MSC Cruises, as well as the second in the fleet to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world.
No doubt the internet is one of the most important things for crew working onboard the cruise ships. The net is the window to the outside world, connecting the crew with their loved ones back home.
Today, June 26, the cruise ship MSC Grandiosa arrived at the Port of Barcelona becoming the first international ship to call at the Catalan capital since the start of the pandemic. The arrival of the ship marks the restart of the cruise activity in Barcelona with about 2,000 cruise passengers onboard MSC Grandiosa, mostly Italians and Germans.
