by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Thu August 31, 2023
MSC Cruises announced it would add new ports of call for two
of its three sailing itineraries in the Middle East during the winter 2023-24
season.
On the MSC Virtuosa, passengers will sail 17 new seven-night
voyages in the Arabian Gulf from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Doha in
Qatar, the new port call of Manama in Bahrain, both Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas
Island in the UAE and back to Dubai.
MSC Opera will also return to the region after a successful
2022-23 season with 22 separate seven-night sailings in 2023-24 from Dubai to
Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas Island, either Khasab in Oman or Fujairah in the UAE,
the Omani capital Muscat and back to Dubai.
As for the MSC Orchestra, the cruise line will operate a new
itinerary during the winter 2023-24 season from Safaga in Egypt with 20 seven-night
sailings to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Aqaba for Petra in Jordan, a new port of
call at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sokhna Port for Cairo in Egypt and back to
Safaga for Luxor.
MSC Cruises will continue to push as the region’s top cruise
line by also expanding its ‘Fly&Cruise’ program with leading international
airlines to provide winter sunshine. The company is adding 80,000 total return
air seats, including more than 60,000 return seats throughout the season from
Europe, South America and Canada.
Earlier this month, MSC
Cruises received approval from the local government to expand and upgrade
its Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve cruise destination in The Bahamas. The
Bahamian Central Bank revealed in its Monthly Economic and Financial
Developments report that MSC Cruises would dump around $100 million into Phase
II of the project.
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