MSC Cruises heads to Cuba in December

MSC Cruises will offer Cuba as a destination in December, part of the line’s Caribbean offerings for the 2015-16 cruise season.

The 2,120-guest MSC Opera will homeport in Havana for the upcoming season and will offer 16 cruises, sailing to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico with two nights and two and a half days in Havana. Specifically for Canadian guests, various flight offers from a range of Canadian cities will allow them to travel to Cuba with several embarkation ports.

According to MSC, the seven-night sailing packages on MSC Opera sold in Canada will include air, transfers, and an Allegrissimo Classic drink package. MSC Cruises’ Canadian guests will be able to embark in Havana on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and embark in Montego Bay, with Air Canada Vacations, Encore Cruises, Jolivac, Oceana Tours, Sunwing Vacations and Transat Holidays.

Flights will be offered from Toronto to Havana, Varadero and Montego Bay; from Montreal to Varadero and Montego Bay, and from Ottawa, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Halifax to Varadero. MSC Cruises is also partnering with Cubanacan to offer local ground services and shore excursions.

The first cruise will start from Havana on Dec. 22, following MSC Opera’s Grand Voyage to Cuba from Genoa, departing on Dec. 2. The Grand Voyage will include a call in Havana on Dec. 18, and resume its itinerary in the region before heading back to Cuba for its final call of the journey on Dec. 22. On April 12, 2016, the ship will leave Havana for a Grand Voyage back to Europe, with Warnemünde, Germany as its final destination, arriving on May 7, 2016.