HAVANA — MSC Cruises will be adding Cuba to its ports-of-call starting in December 2015 when its 2,120-guest MSC Opera will homeport in Havana for the winter 2015-16 season to offer 16 Caribbean cruises.

These cruises are aimed at consumers in Spain, Italy, France and Germany, as well as Canada, Brazil and Argentina.

The completely renovated 65,542-ton MSC Opera will cruise to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico with two nights and two and a half days in the Cuban capital.

Said Gianni Onorato, Chief Executive Officer of MSC Cruises,
“the inaugural cruise will take place in less than six months from now but we can definitely attest of the strong demand for the product, due to the combination of the attractiveness of Cuba as a culture-rich destination, coupled with the fact that it is offered through our distinctive MSC Cruises experience.”

The seven-night cruises will be available to MSC Cruises travellers with a combination of packages including fly and cruise combinations. Sales are now open.

To offer local ground services and shore excursions MSC Cruises will partner with Cubanacan.

The first cruise will start from Havana on Dec. 22 following MSC Opera’s Grand Voyage to Cuba from Genoa, departing on Dec. 2. On April 12 2016, the ship will leave Havana for a Grand Voyage back to Europe, with Warnemünde (Germany) as its final destination, arriving on May 7 2016.

Other ports-of-call on the cruise are Cozumel, Montego Bay and Georgetown in the Cayman Islands.

In connection with the deployment to Cuba, MSC Opera’s original winter 2015-16 schedule in the Canary Islands, Madeira and Morocco has been cancelled.