MSC's winter 2019-20 program features new ships, World Cruise and more

MSC Cruises has unveiled its 2019/2020 winter season, sailing from October 2019 to March 2020 with 17 modern ships and an array of destinations in every corner of the globe.

MSC Grandiosa is one of two ships to come into service in 2019 and will be spending her inaugural winter season in the Western Mediterranean.

MSC Sinfonia will offer longer cruises of 11, 12 and 14 nights in the Mediterranean. New for this season will be a 14-night cruise that calls at the historic port of Haifa, Israel with two full days to discover the ancient cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This brand new itinerary also includes calls to Civitavecchia (Rome), Messina and Genoa to Barcelona and Marseille, as well as the Greek island of Rhodes, southern Cypriot city of Limassol and Heraklion, Crete.

MSC Sinfonia will also be sailing a brand new 12-night cruise from Genoa to destinations across the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Destinations include Tenerife, the Moroccan city of Tangier, the historical Roman-Spanish city of Cartagena, the Portuguese city of Funchal and Civitavecchia, close to Rome, Italy.

Before MSC Meraviglia begins cruising from Miami, MSC Cruises has introduced new itineraries from New York. MSC Meraviglia will offer two 10-night round-trip itineraries from New York, calling at Bar Harbor, Boston, and Portland before moving onto Canadian ports like Charlottetown, Corner Brook, Halifax, Quebec, St. John and Sydney. Prior to arriving in New York, MSC Meraviglia will complete a 17-night transatlantic cruise from Kiel, Germany with ports of call in Denmark, the United Kingdom & Ireland, Iceland and Canada.

For winter 2019/2020 MSC Cruises will deploy six ships in the Caribbean. A key highlight for guests will be the opening of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in winter 2019, a new private island exclusively for MSC Cruises guests. This island in the Bahamas will offer 40 acres of fine golden beaches, split into six unique areas, each with its own distinctive atmosphere and surrounded by crystal blue seas rich with marine life. MSC Seaside, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Divina and MSC Armonia will all call at the island where the ships will dock at a specially built pier so that guests can move at leisure between the ship and the shore.

From her new homeport of Miami, MSC Meraviglia will offer two different itineraries out of PortMiami in the West Caribbean, while MSC Seaside will continue to sail seven nights from Miami to the eastern and western Caribbean.

MSC Divina will return from the Mediterranean in November 2019 offering two long cruises from Miami. The ultramodern ship will offer an 11-night cruise to Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. A 10-night cruise will include Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

MSC Preziosa will offer two embarkation ports in the French Antilles, setting sail from Fort de France in Martinique and Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe. The two 7-night-7 ports itineraries can also be combined in a 14-night cruise, visiting the British Virgin Islands (Tortola), St Maarten, Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada as well as Saint Vincent & The Grenadines.

MSC Cruises is introducing one of its newest ships to the United Arab Emirates. MSC Bellissima will come into service in March 2019 in the Mediterranean and will then move to the Middle East for winter, with two different seven-night itineraries taking guests to Sir Bani Yas Island, exclusive to MSC Cruises guests when in port, and to Khasab and Muscat in Oman or Bahrain and Qatar. MSC Lirica will also join MSC Bellissima, with a series of long cruises in the Persian Gulf. The 14-night itinerary includes calls in the Indian ports of Mumbai and Goa with an overnight stay, while the 11-night cruise features a stop in Muscat and an overnight stay in Oman.

MSC Cruises second World Cruise will commence on board MSC Magnifica from Civitavecchia, Genoa, Barcelona and Marseilles in January 2020. With more than 40 destinations and 23 countries, guests will be able to cross five continents on a three-month plus voyage of discovery to some of the world’s most talked-about destinations.

To learn more, visit www.msccruises.com.