Today MSC Cruises announced the construction of its 22nd ship in the fleet at the steel cutting ceremony at Saint Nazaire shipyard in France. The latest ship will be named MSC Euribia after the ancient Greek goddess of the sea, entering in service in June 2023. The latest ship will be the most environmentally advanced vessel of MSC Cruises, as well as the second in the fleet to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world. 

No doubt the internet is one of the most important things for crew working onboard the cruise ships. The net is the window to the outside world, connecting the crew with their loved ones back home.

Today, June 26, the cruise ship MSC Grandiosa arrived at the Port of Barcelona becoming the first international ship to call at the Catalan capital since the start of the pandemic. The arrival of the ship marks the restart of the cruise activity in Barcelona with about 2,000 cruise passengers onboard MSC Grandiosa, mostly Italians and Germans.

A passenger sailing on the cruise ship MSC Grandiosa was medically evacuated yesterday by the Italian Coast Guard after suffering from internal bleeding. 

The cruise ship MSC Splendida set sail from Trieste, Italy on June 12, becoming the fifth MSC Cruises vessel to resume operations. MSC Splendida will depart each Saturday from Trieste on a 7-night East Mediterranean itinerary along the Adriatic and arrive in Ancona on Sunday and Bari on Tuesday, calling at Corfu (Greece), Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia until 3 July when a stopover will be included

MSC Cruises will restart voyages from U.S. ports this summer on two of its ships. The company confirmed plans to return to guest operations from U.S. ports with updated itineraries on MSC Meraviglia and MSC Divina. After receiving CDC approval for simulation cruise, MSC Meraviglia will sail out of PortMiami starting July 17, 2021. MSC Meraviglia will begin 3- and 4-night cruises also from Miami on August 2, 2021.

This month three cruise ships are scheduled for regular stops at the port of Venice. The return of the cruise liners after a long 17 months ban saw the first ship MSC Orchestra sailing to the lagoon to pick-up about 650 passengers on Saturday, June 5. MSC Orchestra will make regular stops in Venice each Saturday during her 7-day Mediterranean voyages this summer.

Barcelona will be the first Spanish port to welcome a cruise ship after the lifting of the ban on cruises which entered into force in March 2020 and will end next Monday, June 7. The first cruise line to announce the return in Spain is MSC Cruises, with MSC Grandiosa, which will visit the Catalan capital on June 26 for stopover and passenger boarding as part of its Western Mediterranean itinerary.

Spain will reopen ports to international cruise ships from June 7, 2021 the government announced, citing improving pandemic situation and the vaccination rollout. The news was announced in a resolution by the General Directorate of the Spanish Merchant Navy, tweeted by the Spanish government ministry of transport. The government announcement on Saturday said that ships must follow the Ministry of Health's regulations for the safety of passengers and communities they visit.

Yesterday morning the crew of the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Port Miami. Captain Francesco Di Palma and around 90 crew members currently on board, were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The general atmosphere on board is great as all crew were eager to get the vaccine. The vaccination cards are with the ship doctor who will update the crew when they will receive the second dose.