MSC Cruises has opened sales for its 119-day world cruise, which departs Genoa on 5 January 2023.

The itinerary, sailing on MSC Poesia, will take guests to 53 destinations in 33 countries, with a focus on aspirational locations in Asia.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, MSC Poesia will visit the tropical islands of the Caribbean and then sail through the Panama Canal. Next will be the west coast of Central America with calls in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico, before heading to San Francisco.

The Pacific leg will feature visits to Maui, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Auckland in New Zealand, Sydney, the Australian Gold Coast, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. The ship will then arrive in Japan during the cherry blossom season with calls at Kyoto and Tokyo.

Guests will also discover the sights and sounds of Asia with visits to Shanghai, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.

Crossing the Indian Ocean to the Gulf region of the Middle East, MSC Poesia will then head home to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.

MSC Cruises has previously announced the cancellation of the 2021 MSC world cruise due to current circumstances.

The line also temporarily suspended further sailings of MSC Magnifica through to 18 December. However, MSC Grandiosa will continue and extend her current sailings into next year.

The ship will perform her current seven-night itinerary in the Western Mediterranean with embarkation in Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo, Italy, as well as calling Valetta, Malta, until 27 March 2021.

MSC Grandiosa is operating with additional on-board testing for all guests mid-way through their cruise (on top of the existing pre-boarding universal testing for all guests), as well as increased testing for all crew members.

The line has also updated the definition of close contact for tracing purposes, reducing the time that individuals are in contact from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.