MSC CRUISES UNVEILS INDUSTRY LEADING PORT INFO SERVICE AND NEW SHORE EXCURSIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

MSC Cruises, the Swiss-based world’s largest privately-owned cruise line and market leader in Europe, South America and South Africa, has today unveiled a comprehensive range of shoreside activities and services for guests. The company has debuted an industry-leading Port Info service on board MSC Meraviglia, allowing guests to discover and explore more of each destination through complimentary expert advice and information, and has also introduced a variety of new Mediterranean shore excursions to its already extensive offerings.

• Tour Italy’s largest aquarium in Genoa for the perfect family day out. The tour gives guests a behind-the-scenes look at marine laboratories, plankton farming and jellyfish not usually accessible to the public.
• Relish Messina’s best sights including the magnificent Cristo Re Church, which towers over Messina’s harbor, “Piazza del Duomo,” and its golden Bell Tower, and the nearby Cathedral. Along the way, guests will have a chance to stop off at a number of small bars and restaurants to taste arancine (rice balls) and cannoli, a local pastry roll filled with sweet cream. The day will end with a little tipple of passito, a local sweet liquor wine made from raisins.
• Experience Italy like a local in Naples, with highlights of the city complemented by coffee, pastry and pizza. Guests will taste the freshest Neapolitan pizza in the San Gregorio Armeno region (known as the “street of the Nativity Scenes”), then stop to taste Scaturchio, the “sweet” of Naples, and the famous sfogliatella, a typical Neapolitan cake, before finishing the day off with an authentic Neapolitan coffee at the Gran Cafè Gambrinus.
• Savor a gastronomic delight In Barcelona, at the world’s first and only museum dedicated exclusively to Iberian ham where the tour, of course, ends in a tasting session.
• Enjoy the essence of Malta with local tastes and sights including a coach drive to Vittoriosa, one of the Three Historic Cities. Guests will stroll the narrow streets of the city and step back in history to the Church of St. Lawrence and Fort St. Angelo. Then, they will see Marsaxlokk, Malta’s largest fishing village, with a chance to peruse the local market and taste local snacks.

• Discover ancient Pompeii in Naples through an interesting and educational tour of the once thriving city frozen in time thousands of years ago after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Close the adventure with a fun question-and-answer game for the children.
• Walk barefoot at farm Villarè in Messina, famed for its barefoot path that lets visitors feel nature through five senses: Touch, Hearing, Smell, Sight and Taste. Guests end the tour with a tasting of organic and local products.
• Take to the hills at the highest point in Barcelona with enchanting, panoramic views, and then experience a thrill at the city’s only amusement park, Tibidabo Park, offering exciting Sky Walk rides and rollercoasters.

• Bake handmade pizza In Naples. Guests can enjoy one of the city’s best-kept secrets in the historical quarter — baking pizza on the city’s subterranean geothermal rock, hot enough to bake to perfection. The personal creation becomes lunch with the ability to taste some of the areas flavorsome ingredients.
• Sail along the scenic Maltese coastline in Malta passing much of Valletta’s iconic waterfront sights including its Cottonera area made up of Senglea, Cospicua and Vittoriosa — collectively known as The Three Cities. Finish with a treat for the taste buds with a unique wine-tasting session with a view.