MSC Cruises has revealed that MSC Preziosa will sail from the UK from October 2022.

The ship will arrive in Southampton on the 3 October and operate Northern European cruises until April 2023, visiting destinations including Amsterdam, Bruges and Le Havre for Paris.

This news follows the announcement earlier this week that MSC Virtuosa will extend its ex-UK season, which means MSC will have two ships sailing from the port throughout October 2022.

Elsewhere in the programme, itineraries will range from mini cruises through to the 118-night world cruise, exploring the Middle East, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, South America and South Africa.

In total, the line will visit 190 destinations across 85 different countries.

MSC Cruises UK & Ireland MD Antonio Paradiso said: “Our commitment to the UK market continues to grow and we are proud that we are providing agents with such a variety of products to sell in the ex-UK space this year.

“Sailing MSC Virtuosa from Southampton last year allowed us a great opportunity to access the new-to-cruise market who made up 50 per cent of our sales for summer 2021.

“I am delighted to be bringing MSC Virtuosa and MSC Preziosa to the UK in 2022 allowing us to offer more choice than ever before for guests seeking a no-fly adventure.”

MSC Cruises launching new ships

MSC Cruises will launch two new ships for the upcoming winter season – MSC World Europa and MSC Seascape.

MSC World Europa – the line’s first LNG-powered ship – will be based in Doha for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and will then offer cruises calling in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas (United Arab Emirates) Doha (Qatar) and Dammam (Saudi Arabia), starting with a mini-cruise on 20 December before resuming a regular schedule of seven-night cruises.

MSC Seascape, meanwhile, is the line’s second Seaside EVO-class ship and will offer two different seven-night itineraries from PortMiami, starting from 11 December.