Summer has arrived, bringing with it a desire for sea, sun and… cruises. Which, again this year, will have the Mediterranean as the destination of choice for historical repeaters and last-minute cruise passengers, eager to combine the (almost) all-inclusive comforts of cruises with the opportunity to explore wonderful destinations.
We have chosen some of the best itineraries for you in July and August, focusing on the four of the strongest names in the sector: Costa Cruises, which has recently inaugurated its Costa Toscana; MSC, which has put its entire fleet back at sea; NCL, with its numerous on-board activities and Silversea, thanks to its exclusive cruises.
Costa Crociere
Tuscan coastthe new green flagship of the fleet fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), was baptized last June 16 in Barcelona, after leaving Savona on June 12 for an itinerary that, in addition to that of the Catalan city, also touched the ports of Civitavecchia, Naples, Valencia and Marseille, before returning to Savona on 19 June.
During this summer, Costa Toscana will offer seven day cruisesagain on the western Mediterranean, with a stopover in Ibiza instead of Barcelona.
The organized excursions will be signed by National Geographic Expeditions in collaboration with the Tour Operator Kel 12: these are new slow excursions – we at Vanity Fair have tested them in preview – which include visits to places accompanied by special guides, such as photographers, volcanologists and archaeologists. The designated objective of this new format is to lighten the paradigm of the low-spending and high-pest tourist of cruises, limiting the impact on places and trying to grasp their true soul during visits.
MSC Cruises
The Neapolitan cruise company has recently announced that the number of ships in the fleet deployed in the Mediterranean has risen to 15. Furthermore, starting next July 9th, too MSC Bellissima will carry out weekly cruises in the western Mediterranean until the end of the summer season, with stops in Genoa, Livorno, Naples, Valencia and Barcelona.
This will allow MSC aficionados to take advantage of a complete offer, which includes stops in France, Spain, Tunisia, Malta, Portugal, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus and Morocco. In addition to the most beautiful places in the Belpaese, if we consider that the ships will touch 15 Italian ports.
Explains Gianni Onorato, Chief Executive Officer of MSC Cruises: «Thanks to this deployment of ships in the Mediterranean alone, we will offer the highest number of embarkation ports in the Mare Nostrum, thus giving everyone the opportunity to start and end the cruise from the most close to home. We have in fact noticed that the reachability of ships is an extremely appreciated variable ».
NCL
It will be the Mediterranean, and it could not be otherwise, even for part of the American fleet Norwegian Cruise Line. The cruise ships already in operation are Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Gem, which in July and August will sail on the western Mediterranean (among the ports of call: Civitavecchia, Naples, Livorno, Cannes, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Ajaccio) and on the eastern side (between the ports of call: Trieste, Kotor, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Dubrovnik). Cruises range from seven to eleven nights.
In particular, on Norwegian Escape – which has been missing from the European schedule since 2015 – the popular Meet the Winemaker series will debut, with the presence on board on July 17 of the enologist Antonio Hidalgo, eighth generation of the Spanish sherry house Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana.
Norwegian Escape, recognizable by its hull decorated by Guy Harvey, an artist specializing in the representation of marine life, is one of nine NCL ships that will sail the European waters this summer: the largest European fleet in the history of the company. NCL’s range of European itineraries in 2022 includes trips to the Norwegian fjords and the Canary Islands as well as the Mediterranean.
SILVERSEA
Waiting for the arrival of the MSC’s first luxury boutique ship, Explora Ithose wishing to sail on a mainstream stage such as the Mediterranean in summer and bypass the large numbers of mass-market ships can choose to rely on Silversea, which has always been synonymous with elite cruises.
There are two ships – Silver Spirit and Silver Dawn, respectively with 540 and 596 guests – which this summer have been entrusted with sailing on the Mare Nostrum on itineraries from seven to sixteen nights. Spiritin particular, it offers nine-night cruises between Italy (Venice, disembarkation only), Greece (Athens, Santorini, Argostoli, Chania, Katakolon, Corfu), Montenegro (Kotor) and Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar, and Rovinj). Dawn it will be more focused on the Belpaese, with calls in the ports of Venice, Bari, Naples, Palermo, Giardini Naxos and Civitavecchia as well as those of Corfu (Greece), Dubrovnik, Lesina and Zadar (Croatia).
On August 27, for lovers of Atlantic crossings, the boutique ship Silver Cloud Exhibition it will depart from Dublin for an eleven-night cruise that will touch Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal with an extension of just one day in Canada.
Source: Vanity Fair
