After a successful summer cruising season, MSC Starlight Cruises says it will boost capacity on local sailings to record levels with the introduction of its 1700-passenger MSC Opera during the 2012/13 summer season.
The Opera will operate the seasonal programme together with the Sinfonia, which has been positioned locally for the past three seasons. together, they will allow for an additional 135 000 passenger bookings over the course of the upcoming season, surpassing the previous record by nearly 25 000. after leaving South Africa, the MSC Melody will continue to operate a series of Mediterranean cruises during the European summer season, but it is still to be determined where the ship will be based during the winter months. Identifying cruising as the fastest growing sector of the travel industry worldwide and in South Africa, Head of Marketing, Allan Foggitt, said: “The decision to send both MSC Opera and MSC Sinfonia to South Africa for the upcoming 2012/2013 season shows the level of commitment MSC Cruises has to the South African market. we will continue to invest in the destinations and the development of port infrastructure to continuously improve the product and the guests’ overall experience.” The Opera is slated to arrive in Cape Town on November 19 and will operate out of Durban from November 22 until early March 2013, taking over the Mozambique three- and four-night cruises from Sinfonia. The Sinfonia will arrive in Cape Town on November 28 and operate cruises to Mossel Bay, Hermanus, Walvis Bay, Luderitz and a new, 11-night roundtrip cruise to Walvis Bay and St Helena.
It will also operate longer cruises from Durban to Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion, plus a number of coastal cruises between Durban and Cape Town, calling at Port Elizabeth and East London.