MSC Musica arrived in Durban Wednesday morning at the end of a 24-night repositioning cruise from Venice, via Greece, Israel, Aqaba in Jordan, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion.

She’ll stay overnight in port, letting her South African cruise entertainment staff get acquainted with the ship, before embarking new passengers Thursday morning and setting off on the first of her roundtrip Durban cruises.

MSC Musica is the largest cruise ship ever to homeport in South Africa.

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The arrival of MSC Musica marks the beginning of the new cruise season in South Africa, and represents a major development for the local cruise market.

MSC Musica is the largest cruise ship ever to homeport in Durban or Cape Town, and she has been extremely well-received by the South African cruising public before she even arrived.

Ocean view and balcony staterooms have sold out on 70% of her Durban to Durban cruise itineraries according to Cruise Timetables, despite her passenger capacity being 400 more than MSC Sinfonia (MSC’s former Durban-based cruise ship).

According to MSC Cruises, this is because demand for local cruises in South Africa is growing steadily.

“We are already moving more than 100,000 local passengers every six-month season,” said Ross Volk, managing director of MSC Cruises South Africa, referring to Sinfonia. “South Africans fell in love with MSC Sinfonia, and we have no doubt that MSC Musica will very quickly become their new darling of the Indian Ocean.”

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From her see-through piano suspended on a crystal floor above a pool of shimmering water to her palm tree lined swimming pool, and huge double story theatre, MSC Musica is a more advanced cruise ship than MSC Sinfonia by every measure.

MSC Musica’s multi-deck atrium.

She offers bowling lanes, mini golf, tennis, basketball, volleyball, virtual games, an LED wall, shuffleboard, age-specific children’s activity clubs, a duty-free shopping arcade, a gym, power walking track, and a health spa.

There are also five restaurants and ten bars and cafes, find it all about MSC Musica in our ship review here.

Another exciting development this cruise season is the addition of a new cruise destination for the South African market. MSC Musica will be cruising to the old-faithful Portuguese Island, as well as MSC’s new beach resort Pomene Bay.