MSC Cruises has announced that it will postpone the restart of MSC Magnifica to 26 September after the line saw passengers cancelling their cruises.
MSC said the recent introduction of additional testing measures for residents of Italy who travel to Greece resulted in a ‘softening in demand since the ship’s itinerary includes as many as three ports in that county’.
This has led to the decision to delay the restart of the ship by four weeks.
The line said in a statement, it believes that reservations will start to pick up in the coming weeks, due to the appeal of the itinerary.
MSC Magnifica’s sales are open to residents of the Schengen area, at the same time in this early phase of restart the majority of guests are expected to be Italian nationals and residents.
As a result of this, MSC Magnifica cruise departures from 29 August to 19 September have been cancelled. The first cruise will depart from Bari, Italy with an unchanged itinerary on 26 September.
Guests affected by the cancelled cruises will either be moved onto another cruise – in particular on MSC Grandiosa, which is currently sailing in the West Mediterranean, or they will receive a future cruise credit.
MSC Grandiosa is currently offering 7-night cruises with embarkation in the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo and calling additionally at Valetta, Malta.
