Two European cruise lines set to resume big-ship cruising

MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises plan to resume service at the end of this month, after a lengthy pause due to Italy’s extensive travel restrictions related to the nation’s Covid-19 surge.

MSC plans to resume sailings on Jan. 24, with a departure from Genoa on the MSC Grandiosa.  The ship will visit the Italian ports of Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo, and Valetta in Malta, with embarkation available in each port in Italy.  The MSC Magnifica will also resume its 11-day Genoa sailings, starting Feb 14, to Western and Eastern Mediterranean ports in Italy, Greece and Malta.

Costa canceled all departures until Jan. 31, when it plans to resume service with the Costa Deliziosa, which will take over the 3-, 4-, and 7-day sailings to Italian ports originally planned for the Costa Smeralda. That ship will remained paused while the line makes new plans.

MSC and Costa were the first two lines to resume big-ship cruising this summer, offering Mediterranean sailings starting August and September. They were among the few European lines sailings when a second wave of Covid-19 hit Europe in the fall, causing them to cancel sailings starting in November and through the holiday season.