MSC Poesia calls in South Africa for first time on 2024 World Cruise

MSC Poesia was welcomed to the Mother City in style this week during her maiden call to South Africa on her 2024 World Cruise.

A maiden call ceremony was held aboard MSC Poesia with Captain Roberto Leotta, Ross Volk, Managing Director of MSC Cruises SA, and James Voss, Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.

Volk exchanged commemorative gifts with Captain Leotta during a ceremony in the ship’s Pigalle Lounge, where he emphasised the importance of the cruise sector to Cape Town and the wider Western Cape economy.

“With 60 nationalities on board, the cruise helps to expose the passengers to Cape Town and South Africa as a whole,” he said. “It brings foreigners to the shores, and they spend money, boosting the economy, which is needed.”

Vos said MSC Cruises decision to call in Cape Town on MSC Poesia’s World Cruise was testament to the growing popularity of the city as a cruise destination, and pointed out that the growing number of cruise ships calling in the city connects it with key source markets, stimulating supply and demand for local businesses.

The more passengers that came ashore in Cape Town, the more local money is spent in the local tourism sector, while the taxes and port charges for each passenger as brings in significant revenue for the local government.

MSC Poesia was delivered in 2008 and carries up to 3,223 passengers. The ship offers amenities such as a zen garden and wellness centre, mini golf course, a casino, three swimming pools, four whirlpools, a poolside cinema, theatre, basketball and tennis courts and more.

There are three dining venues, which include a Japanese sushi bar, and celebrity chefs Reuben Riffel, Allan Vila Espejo and Niklas Ekstedt will be offering guests unique and authentic menus, consisting of dishes such as pickled fish, poached lobster, confit salmon, peppered Karoo lamb and Bahia-style fish stew with vegetables and coconut milk during the World Cruise.

During her World Cruise MSC Poesia will be visiting 52 destinations across 31 countries, although her call this week in Cape Town was planned as part of the original itinerary, Cape Town is also benefitting significantly from increased port calls this year due to the ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea.

Several cruise lines have amended their cruise itineraries featuring the Suez Canal to sail around South Africa instead, these include Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, Silversea, and Seabourn.