MSC Cruises to make 59 Alicante port calls in 2027 and 2028

The cruise line will keep Alicante as a home port, with 27 visits planned next year and 32 in 2028

MSC Cruises is strengthening its commitment to Alicante, with 27 port calls planned for 2027 and 32 for 2028.

The announcement means the company will maintain Alicante as a home port for at least two more seasons. That allows passengers to begin and end cruises in the city, rather than simply calling there during a longer itinerary.

MSC Cruises has scheduled 18 home-port departures from Alicante in 2027 and 20 in 2028, up from 16 this year.

The 2027 season will begin on March 29 and run until December 23. MSC Sinfonia will replace MSC Opera on the company’s traditional Eastern Mediterranean route.

The itinerary will remain the same. Cruises will leave Alicante and call at Mahón, Olbia, Genoa, Marseille, Málaga, Cádiz and Lisbon before returning to Alicante to begin the next voyage.

MSC Cruises’ relationship with Alicante began in 2022, when the city first became a home port. The company scheduled 18 calls that year, rising to 32 in 2023, 27 in 2024 and 29 in 2025. It has 24 planned for 2026.

Sofía Basterra, MSC Cruises’ Director of Communications in Spain, announced the plans during the first visit of MSC Euribia to the Port of Alicante.

“Alicante has it all: gastronomy, excellent road and air connections, and a wide range of excursion options throughout the province,” she said.

The company says the most popular excursions are visits to Santa Bárbara Castle and Alicante’s historic centre, followed by Elche and the Huerto del Cura. A trip to Guadalest Castle is the third most requested option.

MSC Cruises estimates that its Alicante home-port operation will generate an economic impact of about €12 million this year. It says nearly 80% of the 43,000 passengers embarking or disembarking in Alicante on the Eastern Mediterranean route are Spanish.

The estimate is based on an average spend of €230 per person per day, covering hotel stays before or after cruises and spending in restaurants and shops. The company expects its ten-night Eastern Mediterranean cruises departing from Alicante to carry 85,000 passengers by the end of 2026.

The announcement coincided with MSC Euribia’s first call in Alicante. The 331-metre ship can carry up to 6,327 passengers and is powered by liquefied natural gas. It is not currently scheduled to return to Alicante.

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