MSC Cruises has cancelled its upcoming cruise from Durban to Genoa for the 2024/2025 season, as well as a sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
The cruise line has informed passengers and apologised to them.
MSC Cruises told Travel News: “We cancelled the Grand Voyage sailing in April from South Africa to Italy because of the risk to shipping in the Red Sea. The ship will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers on board and avoid transiting through the Red Sea. Instead, she will sail around the west coast of Africa with no ports of call on the journey.”
The cruise line said the team were not able to find a commercially viable alternative cruise route along the West Coast, where the limited cruise infrastructure was not equipped to handle a cruise ship the size of MSC Musica.
“As a result of this change, we have also had to cancel one sailing from Cape Town to Durban. We have contacted guests affected by these unfortunate yet understandable cancellations with offers of alternative cruises or a refund,” said MSC.
Apart from these two sailings, the rest of the MSC South Africa cruise season remains unaffected. MSC Musica will be positioned in the region between November 2024 and March 2025.