MSC Cruises cancels three "grand voyage" cruises (reserves for MSC Splendida, MSC Opera & MSC Virtuosa vessels) from April to avoid transit through the Red Sea, announces cruise info.
In a press release issued today, January 17, 2024, MSC Cruises announces that it has canceled three "Grand Voyage" repositioning cruises for the month of April from South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Europe due to the risk to shipping maritime in the Red Sea.
Continued attacks on merchant ships in the region forced the company to cancel a 24-night cruise on MSC Splendida from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy, a 21-night voyage on MSC Opera from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Genoa and a 23-night MSC Virtuosa cruise from Dubai to Southampton, UK.
Passenger and crew safety is the number one priority
The safety of passengers and crew is the number one priority and as there was no viable alternative itinerary, the company was unfortunately forced to cancel the trips. The three ships will transfer directly to Europe without passengers on board and will avoid transit through the Red Sea.
Instead, they will sail around the west coast of Africa without ports of call on their journeys to their European home ports for the summer 2024 season. None of the other ships in the company's fleet are affected.
All passengers who had reservations on the three repositioning cruises have been or are being contacted directly or through their travel agent and can transfer their reservation to a future Grand Voyage cruise of a similar duration free of charge.
Alternatively, affected passengers can rebook on any other cruise in the company's global network, either with a partial refund or an additional payment for the price difference of the original booking, or receive a full refund with no cancellation fee.