MSC Cruises has once again delayed the resumption of its second ship in the Mediterranean, MSC Magnifica, pushing the restart date back to 19 October.

This marks the third time MSC Cruises’ has delayed the restart of its 2,550-passenger vessel, which was previously due to sail on 26 September after being delayed from 29 August.

MSC Magnifica’s new programme covers both the West and East Mediterranean and will see the ship homeport in Genoa, with calls at Livorno for Florence and Pisa, Messina in Sicily, Valletta in Malta, Piraeus for Athens and Katakolon for Olympia in Greece and Civitavecchia for Rome, before returning to Genoa.

The 10-night itinerary is designed for guests who prefer longer voyages that offer more destinations to visit and more time at sea.

The cruise line has said that the longer sailing is also expected to appeal to guests flying from Schengen countries because of strong pan-European air links to both Rome and Genoa – which are, together with Messina, two of the ship’s three embarkation ports, as well as ‘proximity cruising’, which is proving to be popular with MSC Cruises’ guests who live both in Italy and in neighbouring countries. 

Following the completion of her updated itinerary, MSC Magnifica is due to embark on MSC Cruises’ trademark world cruise in 2021, for the second consecutive year.

Along with changes to MSC Magnifica’s itinerary, the cruise line has also extended MSC Grandiosa’s current sailings through to the end of the year, including the ship’s Christmas cruise to depart from Genoa, Italy on 20 December.

MSC Grandiosa is offering seven-night cruises with embarkation in the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo, plus a calling at Valletta, Malta.

Last month, MSC Grandiosa became the first major ocean cruise ship to set sail on a Mediterranean cruise in almost five months since the global suspension of sailings due to coronavirus (Covid-19) was announced.

Visit msccruises.co.uk for more information.