There has been a change of plan for MSC Cruises in it’s ‘ strategy for Alicante this winter as the Italian-Swiss shipping company has decided to reorganise its ships positioned in the Mediterranean with the withdrawal of the MSC Sinfonía, motivated by operational issues, and the transfer of the MSC Orchestra to the company’s home port in Valencia, which means the abandonment of the new shipping campaign during the winter season of 2024 in the Port of Alicante.
A new round of departures had been scheduled with cruises of the Western Mediterranean that were launched for the first time in 2023, by the ship MSC Lírica (which, initially, was going to be replaced on this occasion by the MSC Sinfonía, now at anchor).
Specifically, the itinerary was to run again from January 24 between the ports of Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona, Ceuta, Tangier, Casablanca and Malaga on a ten-night trip, as had happened this year.
This operation saw eleven departures and a satisfactory balance in terms of demand. It concluded at the end of the 22/23 season, last April – which initially led to it maintaining its programming for the winter of 2024.
However, the official communication of the cancellation was sent to the Port of Alicante fifteen days ago, in a context marked by geopolitical instability in the Middle East as a consequence of the conflict unleashed between Israel and Gaza, which has caused the cancellation of the itineraries offered by MSC Cruises through the Red Sea.
Company sources stated that the dispute in Israel would not have been, strictly speaking, the cause that would have led to the discarding of winter cruises from Alicante, to the extent that the route of that cruise did not touch coasts close to the war zone, but as the behaviour of tourism is very sensitive to instability, the attacks on the Gaza Strip and the fear of risk of it spreading to neighbouring countries would also have been a factor to take into account.
However, it is thought that the main reason would have been the decision to diversify the schedules and opt this time for the port of València as the starting point for the Mediterranean tours during the winter campaign.
Thus, it has been decided to move the MSC Orchestra – which had been carrying out the summer cruises with boarding from Alicante until last Sunday, November 5 – so that it operates on a seven-night round trip circuit through the Mediterranean with an itinerary that runs through Cagliari, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Marseille and Palma until its return to Valencia.
This route will be available from December 16 to April 6, which has led to the cancellation of trips departing from Alicante so as not to duplicate the offer in two nearby ports.
However, the company maintains its confidence in Alicante as a boarding port to the point of expanding the number of departures during the next summer campaign which are already scheduled in the 2024 calendar.
In fact, that season will start on May 1. That is, more than a month before the date on which it was launched in 2023. The cruise route – for which cabin sales are already available – will once again run from Alicante to Mahón, Olbia, Genoa, Marseille, Málaga, Cádiz, Lisbon and back to Alicante, on a ten-day trip aboard MSC Orchestra that will also extend until October 28 with 19 departures in total.
