MSC Cruises' ship MSC Seaside made adjustments to her current transatlantic cruise to Europe from Brazil due to technical issues.
The vessel canceled 2 port calls in Spain's Canary Islands - Santa Cruz de la Palma (March 28) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (March 30), replacing them with an overnight in Las Palmas Gran Canaria for repairs.
Some passengers expressed their disappointment in the onboard theater interrupting the performance of South Africa's singer Vick Vicus and demanding an explanation. Captain Lauro Maresca was called to explain the reason for the canceled stops.
Passengers said the liner was sailing very slowly and the first information they received was because of a fuel shortage. However, the latest information they had was that there was a problem with the engine, and they would sail to one of the Canaries and stay overnight to carry out the repairs.
MSC released the following statement:
“We confirm that it was necessary to make an adjustment to the itinerary of the MSC Seaside due to urgent operational reasons beyond our control. We had to cancel the stops in Santa Cruz de La Palma and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, heading straight to Las Palmas and staying in the city for an overnight, before heading to Funchal.
"We regret the change of itinerary and apologize for the inconvenience. We are doing our best to compensate our guests with onboard credit and ferry tickets from Las Palmas to Tenerife so that they could visit the city if they wish. We emphasize that the health and safety of our guests and crew were never at risk during this itinerary adjustment."
For more MSC Seaside incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.