Cruise news
MSC route changes and announced calls in Tunisia in 2011
Photo: Alesia Belaya
Suspensions in March 2011
On 25 March 2011, MSC Cruises announced that it would temporarily stop calling at ports in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain. A dpa report from Munich quoted an MSC spokesperson as saying that affected itineraries would instead call at ports in Greece, Israel, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. For Tunis, the cruise line would decide at short notice for summer voyages whether a ship would dock there or spend an extra day at sea; the exception applied to all ships except MSC Melody. The other changes would remain in place even if the security situation improved. In the same month, Costa Crociere announced that it would remove Egypt and Tunisia from its own itineraries for several months.
Return to La Goulette in July announced
In June, MSC chairman Pierfrancesco Vago announced the return to La Goulette. Calls by MSC Fantasia and MSC Lirica were scheduled to resume from 5 July, and those by MSC Splendida and MSC Sinfonia from 6 July. The regular start of the Tunisia season had previously been expected in April. Egypt remained a separate matter: calls there were still suspended. For autumn and winter voyages through December 2011, replacement stops, including in Greece or Turkey, were planned. No decision had yet been made about calls in Egypt after December.
Reported arrivals in early July
A report published on 6 July said that two ships had arrived in La Goulette the previous day. Two more were expected on 6 July. MSC also planned to send four ships a week to Tunisia from July through October. A ceremony was held aboard MSC Fantasia with Neil Palomba, MSC’s chief operating officer, and ministers Mehdi Houas for trade and tourism and Salem Miladi for transport. Participants highlighted the importance of cruise calls to trade and tourism in Tunisia. The report estimated each ship’s capacity at more than 1,000 passengers and cited an annual figure of 350,000 to 400,000 visitors under the plans at the time.
