If you, like us, desperately miss MSC Lirica, the cruise ship that pioneered the Middle East cruise market for MSC Cruises, then you’ll be glad to hear that she is being repositioned to the European market in 2018, cruising in the Mediterranean roundtrip from Venice.

MSC Lirica, one of the smaller cruise liners in the MSC Cruises fleet, was recently cut in half and lengthened as part of a major fleet refurbishment project undertaken by MSC. Now, she’ll be operating a brand-new, exciting itinerary in the East Mediterranean for the summer 2018.

She’ll be home-porting in the Italian cities of Venice and Bari and will begin her Mediterranean season on April 6 next year.

RELATED: MSC Splendida to get ‘game-changing’ refit ahead of Middle East cruise season out of Dubai

RELATED: Silversea plans to cut South Africa-bound Silver Spirit in half for refit

“Guests demand for cruise holidays in Mediterranean continues to be strong. We have particularly seen boosted interest in the Eastern Mediterranean, with destinations such as the Greek islands and Croatia really capturing the imagination of travellers,” explains Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ CEO.

The move brings the total number of MSC cruise ships in the region to four, enabling it to offer itineraries that it has never had the capacity to include.

Below is a run-down of the new Mediterranean cruise destination MSC will be sailing to aboard MSC Lirica.

Mykonos, Greece: a full day visiting the world-renowned Greek island known for its striking contrasts, lively streets that give way to serene beaches, relaxed restaurants and iconic whitewashed buildings

Heraklion/Crete, Greece: the Heraklion fortress marks the gateway to Greece’s largest island, Crete where – according to Greek mythology – with clean-sand beaches in the forefront, the white mountain backgrounds contain Ideon Cave, the birthplace of Zeus

Corfù, Greece: Enjoy an extended stay experiencing Venetian, French and British style influences in the city, nothing can distract from the stunning coastline with crystal-clear seas and rugged cave-specked rocks

Dubrovnik, Croatia: from the 16th century old town encircled with huge stone walls, take the cable car up the mountain to see this stunning city from above

Bari, Italy: perched on the side of the Adriatic Sea, the beautiful port town of Bari offers guests stunning history and golden-sanded cays all within walking distance.

Not only is this a brand new itinerary, but MSC Cruises is giving guests even more time to explore some of these amazing destinations thanks to a longer stay in Corfu and a full day ashore in Mykonos.

MSC Lirica will offer this 7-night Eastern Mediterranean itinerary from April 6 to October 26, 2018.