MSC Cruises Expands Winter Red Sea Itinerary

MSC Cruises has announced that this season’s MSC Splendida seven-night winter cruise in the Red Sea will boost its offerings to customers, such as increasing the number of shore excursion options to 33.

New ports of call, expanded embarkation options, and exciting shore excursions are some highlights of MSC Cruises’ improved Winter Red Sea.

The new Red Sea itinerary for the winter of 2022-2023 aboard the MSC Splendida will feature 33 additional shore excursions, including a visit to Cairo, Egypt.

The seven-night Red Sea cruise includes overnights at many picturesque ports, allowing passengers to spend more time in places like Cairo and the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The company also announced additional embarkation days and longer stays in select ports of call, and additional ports of call.

A 13-hour stop at the Al Sokhna Port in Cairo, Egypt, has been added to the winter schedule so that passengers can spend extra time seeing the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the original “Seven Wonders of the World”.

The MSC Splendid will make stops at Al Sokhna Port, Safaga for Hurghada and Luxor, Egypt; Aqaba for Petra, Jordan; Jeddah for AlUla; and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

All types of cruisers, from excitement seekers to those just trying to unwind, can find something to their liking among the 33 shore activities offered in each port of call on this longer itinerary.

The Nile River port of Al Sokhna in Cairo, Egypt, will offer visitors five different tours of the Egyptian metropolis.

Visitors to Cairo, often known as the “city of a thousand minarets,” may see the Great Pyramid of Giza, the city’s famous mosques, the Citadel of Saladin, and the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan.

Cruisers may reach the white-sand beaches that span north and south of Hurghada by departing from the port of Safaga on one of the 13 scheduled shore excursions.

Safaga Port also provides easy access to the ancient city of Luxor, where visitors may go to the Luxor Temple, the Karnak Temple, or the famous Valley of the Kings.

Petra, Jordan, a historic city and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of the Jordanian desert, is one of eight excursions visitors can choose from after docking in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.

During their time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city, visitors can choose from three tours that will take them to nearby attractions like the ancient city of AlUla in the desert of the Hijaz mountains and the nearby archaeological site of Hegra, the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Snorkelling at Iona Coral Reef, home to beautiful fish, marine vegetation, and the wreck of the British ship Iona, is only one of the four beach excursions in “the diving capital of Saudi Arabia,” Yanbu.

Currently, the MSC Splendida sails seven-night itineraries out of several ports in the Mediterranean Sea. However, beginning in November, the ship will offer a wider variety of unique sails, such as those that set sail from Genoa (Portofino) and Civitavecchia (Rome).