MSC Cruises announced it would deploy MSC Lirica to the Eastern Mediterranean for the 2022 summer season, homeporting at Piraeus-Athens (Greece) for the first time during the entire season.
MSC Lirica will sail on 7-night roundtrips (a total of 28 departures from Piraeus) between April 2022-October 2023. The itinerary visits Kusadasi-Ephesus (Turkey), Haifa (Israel), Limassol (Cyprus Greece), and the Greek islands Rhodes and Santorini (Thira).
Passengers can start their 7-night Eastern Mediterranean voyage embarking from 4 homeports - Piraeus, Haifa, Limassol, and Kusadasi. Crete Island (Heraklion) is included in the four 11-night cruises (November - December 2022).
MSC will also deploy 3 more ships in the Eastern Mediterranean visiting Greece in summer 2022. MSC Armonia will visit Piraeus on a weekly basis, while MSC Fantasia (from September 2022) will offer 11-night sailings to Athens. MSC Musica's summer program also visits Greece - Heraklion, Katakolon-Olympia, Santorini.
According to Angelo Capurro (MSC's Executive Director), Greece would be a major player in the company's Eastern Mediterranean summer 2022 program with passengers embarking at Piraeus for the first time and the port being a base for MSC Lirica.
“Athens airport will also play an important role with many guests flying from throughout Europe and North America to join MSC Lirica and enjoy one of the safest holidays options out there whilst having a memorable time on board.
“Our guests can look forward to our wonderful and renowned European-flavoured cruises that are born of a business that attracts and welcomes 180 different nationalities from around the world, but where our approach is local and everyone feels at home, relaxed and above all, safe.”