There will be more ways to have fun in the sun this winter, with MSC Cruises revealing on October 17, 2024, that it will have five ships sailing to the Caribbean from American ports during the season.
Sailing from PortMiami, Port Canaveral, and New York City, the cruise line will offer more than 120 sailings across the region’s most beloved destinations between October 2024 and March 2025.
Itineraries will range from short getaways to extended cruises with stops at over 22 ports throughout the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Cayman Islands.
All five MSC Cruises ships in the region, including MSC Seascape, MSC Seaside, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seashore, and MSC Divina, will call at the cruise line’s private Bahamian island destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
The vessels will also make frequent stops in Nassau, Bahamas.
Three of MSC’s ships – the 170,412-gross-ton MSC Seascape, the 153,516-gross-ton MSC Seaside, and the 171,598-gross-ton MSC Meraviglia will also visit San Juan, Puerto Rico, regularly.
Read Also: Things to Know About Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve
For those looking to explore Cozumel, Mexico, MSC Seascape and MSC Seaside will also join the 169,400-gross-ton MSC Seashore in calls to the island renowned for snorkeling and Mayan history.
MSC Seascape, which has already been offering fall cruises to the Caribbean from its home base in Miami, will launch on a 7-night roundtrip voyage to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico, and Ocean Cay on October 19, 2024.
Also departing from Miami will be MSC Seaside, setting off on its first winter voyage on November 17, 2024. The itinerary includes Ocean Cay, Nassau, and San Juan, as well as Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatan, Honduras.
Additionally, MSC Divina, currently wrapping up a fall season sailing in Italy, Greece, and Turkey, will launch into the Caribbean with a 4-night roundtrip itinerary to Nassau and Ocean Cay on November 18, 2024, from Miami. The ship will also feature longer voyages into the Eastern Caribbean islands.
Providing options from Port Canaveral, Florida, MSC Seashore is already offering voyages to Ocean Cay and Nassau, as well as Costa Maya and Cozumel routes. The ship will continue in the region into spring 2025.
Finally, MSC Meraviglia, currently offering cruises to Bermuda, Port Canaveral, Ocean Cay, and Nassau from New York, will delve deeper into the Caribbean beginning in January 2025, sailing a 21-night Eastern Caribbean route from New York.
Coral Research Center to Open Ahead of Season
With Ocean Cay a primary destination for MSC Cruises’ winter voyages, the cruise line’s MSC Foundation also announced its new Marine Conservation Center will be completed ahead of the season.
The state-of-the-art facility, which works to restore and protect coral reefs at Ocean Cay, will include a coral nursery with five species and 13 genotypes of reef-building coral. Phase Two of the project, introducing educational facilities, is expected to be finished by April 2025.
The five ships sailing in the Caribbean are part of the cruise line’s strategy to sail more itineraries from U.S. ports. MSC Cruises will expand to a record seven ships in the U.S. during the winter season in 2025-2026, including the 181,541-gross-ton MSC Grandiosa sailing from Galveston, Texas.
Its upcoming 215-863-gross-ton MSC World America, under construction at Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France, is being tailored for the North American market and will offer more voyages to the Caribbean from its Miami homeport when it debuts in April 2025.
