MSC Cruises is adding additional benefits to guests booking suites with an Aurea Experience across its fleet
Guests can now enjoy elevated in-suite amenities and other premium comforts, along with priority disembarkation, tender boat access and more
Geneva, Switzerland – 03 February 2025 – MSC Cruises has always been known for its comfortable and modern accommodation, with cabins and suites to suit every kind of holidaymaker. Now the cruise line is taking its offerings to the next level with additional privileges for guests booking a suite within the Aurea Experience across the fleet.
MSC Cruises offers four distinct experiences, Bella, Fantastica, Aurea and the MSC Yacht Club, along with dozens of cabin types across its fleet, designed to provide the ultimate comfort for all guests. Whether guests want to book an interior cabin along with the Bella Experience for maximum value or opt for a luxury experience with the 104 square metreOwner’s Suite in the cruise line’s exclusive MSC Yacht Club, MSC Cruises offers cabin types and experiences to suit every guest’s needs.
Now the cruise line is rolling out additional advantages for guests booking a suite with an Aurea Experience across its fleet.
On top of the existing benefits of the Aurea Experience including premium services, My Choice dining flexibility, wellness-focused amenities and access to the luxurious MSC Aurea Spa thermal area, booking a suite with an Aurea Experience now brings additional benefits to help create an unforgettable cruise holiday.
From their embarkation throughout their entire journey on board, Aurea Experience suite guests will be immersed in a unique zen experience from being welcomed with a bottle of prosecco, then heading to the MSC Aurea Spa to enjoy the thermal area before returning to their suite, where plush wellness amenities await them, along with luxurious bedding and a pillow menu to fit their needs for a restful sleep.
Newly introduced benefits for guests booking a suite with the Aurea Experience also now includes:
Priority disembarkation
Priority tender boat access – in ports with a tender service
One minibar refresh – first set of minibar refreshments free of charge
An in-suite Nespresso coffee machine – with coffee pods replenished daily
Venchi daily turndown of chocolates
Elevated in-suite amenities – including100% cotton bathrobes, plush slippers, premium bed linens, enhanced Dorelean mattress and bespoke bath products from MED by MSC, MSC Cruises very own dedicated toiletry brand.
Complimentary ironing – two complimentary ironing services per stay
These additional benefits apply to all suites with an Aurea Experience booked for sailings commencing from 1 July 2025.
For guests seeking an even higher level of luxury, MSC Cruises also offers the MSC Yacht Club – the cruise line’s exclusive “ship-within-a-ship” concept with keycard-only access to an array of private facilities. With an exclusive restaurant, lounge, pool and sundeck, the MSC Yacht Club offers its guests a secluded sanctuary while allowing them to enjoy the countless facilities and entertainment possibilities available throughout the rest of the ship.
For more information about the newly enhanced MSC Aurea Experience for suite guests, visit here.
When the MSC World America debuts in Miami this April, so will its “Dirty Dancing in Concert” theatrical production.
Complete with singers, dancers and a live band, the show will be a stage production of the classic 1987 movie about a girl who falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor while she and her family stay at a Catskills resort.
With MSC Cruises striving to make inroads with American vacationers, the entertainment and features of the new ship are designed to resonate with both American and international audiences, said Steve Leatham, MSC Cruises’ vice president of entertainment. He said the Dirty Dancing show “will be unlike anything previously seen on our ships.”
The MSC World America is scheduled to sail seven and 14-day eastern and western Caribbean cruises out of its new terminal in Miami through the end of 2026.
“Dirty Dancing in Concert” will be performed in the ship’s 1,150-seat World Theatre. It will be a 90-minute event.
The show is one of seven new productions, shows and concerts MSC will unveil on the World America. The line will also debut “Odyssey,” an acrobatic show with a backdrop inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, produced by Anystage Creative; “Momentous,” what MSC called the largest illusion show ever produced at sea, created in collaboration with Twins FX, which produced special effects in the musical “Back to the Future” and films “Mission: Impossible” and “The Mummy”; and “Hall of Fame,” a live pop concert produced by Onlychild, a creative studio specializing in collaborations in music, fashion, live theater and film.
In the Panorama Lounge, the brand will debut the Queen Symphonic, which will showcase a blend of the band Queen’s greatest hits in a theatrical style using a live rock band, singers and dancers accompanied by acrobats. The show will also include the contributions of a 36-piece orchestra on screen recorded specifically to create a backdrop for the show.
The lounge will also present Cinesonic, a concert featuring iconic movie songs and scores animated with state-of-the-art motion graphics, singers, dancers and acrobats.
The ship will also debut The Loft to the U.S. market, offering a space for adults to find evening entertainment, including dueling pianos, comedy shows, karaoke and a late-night DJ.
The ship will also feature surprise pop-up moments throughout the cruise with performers throughout the ship.
By day, the ship will offer dance classes, enrichment talks, movies, e-gaming and virtual reality experiences in its Luna Park, an entertainment hub on the ship. At night, Luna Park will offer family and kids’ parties, family game shows and late-night themed experiences for adults.
Hemisphere Dancer Craft Spirits — a piano bar/lounge on the line’s other ship, Margaritaville at Sea Islander — will debut on the Paradise.
Far Side Sushi, a specialty dining option, will open in a bamboo-accented space. Besides sushi rolls, the restaurant will serve rice and ramen bowls. Pizza outlet Frank and Lola’s will be inclusive for all guests as part of an upgraded experience at the Port of Indecision Buffet.
Poolside bars License to Chill and 12 Volt will get new menus and renovated spaces, including License to Chill’s reimagination as a Key West-inspired beach bar, complete with ping pong and billiards.
Margaritaville at Sea will refresh the menu for JWB Prime Steakhouse, including wine pairings and seasonal specialties.
New entertainment, improved embarkation
Margaritaville didn’t provide specifics but said it would “debut all-new live entertainment featuring exciting new artists in every corner of the ship.”
At Florida’s Port of Palm Beach, Margaritaville at Sea said it is expediting the embarkation process with the addition of advanced facial-recognition technology for guests carrying U.S. passports. There also are new parking options, including self-parking and valet.
The Paradise sails two-, three-, and four-night cruises from Palm Beach. This year the ship has added Nassau port calls and a ship-to-resort experience at the Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau.
Cruise companies are rolling out more and bigger ships, and Florida’s big three cruise ports are doing all they can to keep up. Meanwhile, a Texas port stands ready to fill the industry’s growing needs
Port Canaveral’s CEO, Capt. John Murray, was nonplussed when Florida state officials sunk plans to build a seventh cruise terminal at a cargo berth.
The terminal was designed to meet growing demand from the booming cruise industry and its increasingly larger ships, but Florida’s commerce and transportation secretaries argued that repurposing North Cargo Berth 8 for the cruise sector would jeopardize the growth of the space industry.
Commerce secretary Alex Kelly and transportation secretary Jared Perdue even threatened to pull funding from Port Canaveral’s projects if it continued with the cruise terminal. Hence, the port authority’s board of commissioners voted 4-1 in late August to abandon those plans.
In a press conference following the vote, Murray said that with the world’s largest cruise companies on a ship-building spree, the cruise industry needed more terminal space. And, he said, Port Canaveral and Florida also need it so that those cruise ships don’t leave the state.
“Miami is full. Everglades is full. If we’re full, they’re going somewhere else,” Murray said about cruise ships. “And we don’t want large, brand-new assets moving over to Texas, California, New York. Because once it leaves, it’s next to impossible to get it back.”
While some of those Florida ports might not say that they’re “full,” the cruise industry has at least 40 ships on order over the next dozen years, many that will be bigger than existing ships. Cruise lines will need not only berths big enough for their ships, but terminals that can handle getting thousands of people and their luggage on and off these vessels. The smaller terminals built to accommodate ships of the past just won’t cut it, Murray said.
“It’s like trying to put everybody on a 747 aircraft at a 737 gate,” he said.
While Port Canaveral is unique in dealing with the competing interests of space travel, it is not alone among Florida ports that are considering the cruise industry’s growth and needs.
Officials at Florida’s Big Three cruise ports, Port Canaveral, PortMiami and Port Everglades, are working to keep up with demand by constructing new berths and terminals, renovating old ones and getting creative with cruise schedules. And while these ports may compete with each other, they share the common goal of keeping as many cruise ships as possible at home in the Sunshine State.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Florida to the cruise industry. It’s the state where modern cruising was born and from where many cruise ships sail year-round. Even ships that cruise elsewhere throughout the year often return to Florida in the winter months, attracting vacationers escaping the cold. Cruise lines have also built several private Caribbean destinations within close proximity to Florida, making them an integral part of the cruise experience and major demand and revenue generators.
Capacity constrained
Sitting an hour east of Orlando in Central Florida, Port Canaveral has grown in recent years. Today it is the second-busiest cruise port in the world after PortMiami.
Long a homeport for older ships sailing short cruises to the Bahamas and private destinations, Port Canaveral now attracts some of the industry’s newest and largest tonnage. With a strong drive market due to its proximity to the southeastern U.S., Canaveral recorded 7.6 million passenger movements in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a 12% bump from the year prior, the port said. Murray said he expects to reach 8.4 million passenger movements this year.
“If we had that terminal now, we could fill it,” Murray said about the stymied port project during a state of the port address in late November.
The derailment of the those plans led Murray to lean into other projects. Port Canaveral’s berths are generally big enough for the largest cruise ships, but some of its terminals have needed modifications to improve passenger and baggage flow, particularly ones built 30 years ago when the largest cruise ships carried 2,500 passengers, he said. Other terminals are now due for such upgrades.
Back then, those older terminals couldn’t have accommodated ships like Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) upcoming Norwegian Aqua, which will carry about 3,600 guests at double capacity when it begins sailing from Port Canaveral in April, or Royal Caribbean International’s 5,610-passenger Star of the Seas when it starts sailing from the port in August. If loaded with third and fourth berths, the Star could board as many as 7,500 passengers.
The Aqua and Star will dock at larger or recently renovated terminals when they arrive in Port Canaveral. The port is also redeveloping Cruise Terminal 5 to handle larger volumes of people, and it launched a feasibility study to do the same for Cruise Terminal 10. Both would serve multiple cruise lines, enabling the port to mix and match ships instead of being committed to one cruise line as is the case at other branded terminals.
MSC Cruises is also looking to homeport in Port Canaveral. The line is opting to position its fourth and yet-unnamed World-class ship there for seven-night cruises in the winter 2027-2028 season, in addition to sailing two other ships from the port.
But Murray is not giving up on his hopes to free up a seventh berth for cruises. He is pursuing two possibilities on the south side of the port, where he originally wanted to build a big berth, terminal and parking garage. Both possibilities come with obstacles: One involves tenant requirements that need to be resolved before the space can be freed up as a cruise berth, and the other includes moving an Air Force communication line underneath the harbor.
Those complications could mean another four or five years before a new cruise terminal opens, Murray said. But if he can get one of those terminals built by 2028, he added, the port won’t have to turn away cruise business.
While Murray stands by his assertion that the Big Three Florida ports are “full,” Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) CEO Harry Sommer has a different perspective.
Like Murray, Sommer was unhappy that state officials voted against Port Canaveral’s cruise berth plans, especially because NCL’s Norwegian Joy was expected to sail from that terminal when it opened in 2026.
Sommer chided the state while onstage at the CruiseWorld conference in November, saying the new terminal would have attracted “a million” cruisers and “benefited the whole industry” instead of a handful of space tourists.
“Seems a little bit unbalanced to me,” Sommer said, sarcastically adding, “I’m not bitter.”
Still, when Sommer looks at the availability at Florida’s Big Three cruise ports, he said they are only full during peak times, such as Saturdays and Sundays in the winter. Finding space requires creativity, he said.
“I think what you’ll see us [doing] is expanding to cruises that aren’t just seven-day cruises leaving in the winter on a Saturday or Sunday,” he said.
NCLH is also positioning its ships at other Florida ports. NCL has one ship sailing out of Jacksonville and two from Tampa. Sister brand Oceania will also sail out of Tampa, a first for the brand, starting in March 2026.
Royal Caribbean Group’s river cruise launch may have been a surprise move from the ocean-cruise titan, but travel advisors say the rivers are ready for a new player with Royal’s reach.
Royal placed an order for ten 180-passenger ships for its Celebrity brand and plans to launch Europe operations in 2027. The company also signaled that Celebrity River Cruises may be followed by luxury river cruises from sister brand Silversea.
“This is not a hobby for us,” Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty told investors during the company’s Q4 2024 earnings call on Jan. 28. “We are taking this extremely seriously, and we want to make sure we can live up to delivering the best vacation experiences in the world and make sure we’re doing so in a responsible way.”
Liberty said about half of the group’s guests have experienced or intend to take a river cruise, so there’s a great opportunity keep that demand in the corporate family. River cruising has seen double-digit growth over the past decade, he said.
After launching a loyalty program in 2024 that applies a guest’s highest status with one brand to the company’s other two, Liberty said past passengers have become “stickier” within the Royal Caribbean Group.
“We have well over 8 million guests a year, we have a database of 35 million people who are continuing vacationing with us,” he said. “So it’s a great opportunity to use that flywheel to generate high-quality demand.”
How will Celebrity stand out?
Travel advisors concurred. Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature Travel Network, said there is “tremendous” opportunity in river cruising and that Celebrity fans would place it high on their list when considering a river cruise, opening the line to a higher-yielding passenger.
“With river, you are talking about fewer guests and higher-impact guests, spending more money ashore and really digging into local cultures,” Sharpe said.
Royal said it may go after those higher-spending river cruisers more intentionally, with the possible launch of a luxury river product with Silversea.
“We’re going to start off with Celebrity. We’re going to assume that’s where we think that there is great scale opportunity,” Liberty said. “And then, of course, we’ll be looking to see if there’s other ways to expand it for our other brands as it sees fit.”
Jennifer Kellum, president of Neverland and Main Travel in Jacksonville, N.C., called river cruising a “trending” sector, and said Celebrity would have an “undeniable following out of the gate.”
The big question for Kellum is what Celebrity will do to differentiate itself from other river cruise lines. The brand will need to make a bold entrance into the market, she said, such as offering new experiences on the traditional mode of sailing in Europe.
Kellum and Karen Quinn-Panzer of Dream Vacations, who specializes in river cruising, said Celebrity could introduce the river cruise industry to a younger audience.
Quinn-Panzer said Celebrity’s “fun, hip perspective” could attract younger cruisers. Kellum said Celebrity could tap into a trend that river cruising is already seeing.
“The demographics of river cruising are changing, and we’re seeing a younger population onboard,” Kellum said. “I think brand loyalty could work to their benefit with a demographic change.”
A 10-ship order indicates that Celebrity is not just dipping its toes in the river.
“They’re not going to be a new river cruise line on the Danube,” said Richard Turen, owner of the Churchill & Turen agency and a Travel Weekly columnist. “They are going after Europe, and they’re going to have ships on every major European river.”
Quinn-Panzer also said the large ship order signaled the company’s intent to invest in a growth market, noting that there are still plenty of baby boomers looking to travel — the prime demographic for river cruising.
She has high expectations: “Celebrity’s elevated hospitality is second to none,” Quinn-Panzer said.
Royal said the Celebrity River ships would mimic the design of Celebrity’s Edge-class ships. Liberty said that in terms of brand offering, the Celebrity river vessels will differ from many existing river lines by extending Celebrity policies such as not being all-inclusive and allowing children to sail.
However, Henry Dennis, a luxury-focused travel advisor with Frosch based in Charlotte, wondered how Celebrity would distinguish itself in what “many people think is a market that is getting oversaturated. In some ports you already have to walk across three or four ships to get ashore. And there are only so many rivers.”
He also suggested it could be a challenge for a company that has specialized in big-ship ocean cruising to pivot to such a different product.
“Are they going to put the Magic Carpet on the side of their ships?” he said cheekily, referring to the platform on Edge-class ships that moves up and down on the exterior of the vessel.
China and India have agreed to resume direct commercial flights for the first time in five years, in the latest sign of warming relations between the world’s two most populous countries.
Flights between India and mainland China were suspended at the onset of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, and remained halted following subsequent political tensions.
The announcement on Monday came as India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the two countries had reached a consensus “in principle to resume direct air services,” with officials expected to hammer out details “at an early date.”
Confirming the development, China’s Foreign Ministry also said it had agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in western Tibet to Indian pilgrims this year.
The two destinations are considered sacred in the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon faiths and are popular pilgrimage sites.
Behind the scenes
Months after flights were suspended due to the pandemic, soldiers from the two countries fought a bloody hand-to-hand battle at their disputed border high in the Himalayas, in which at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
Both India and China maintain a significant military presence along their 2,100-mile (3,379-kilometer) de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has never been clearly defined and has remained a source of friction since a war between the two countries in 1962.
The June 2020 clash was followed by a process of disengagement and border talks, including an agreement on military patrolling. But points of friction have remained in other areas.
The two countries have sought to further ease tensions in recent months, following a rare meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this past October.
Currently, there are direct passenger flights between several Indian cities and Hong Kong, but not mainland China.
Tourists look forward
The news of the agreement to resume commercial flights prompted some to share their enthusiasm on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
One Chinese netizen said he had bought a flight ticket to India in February 2020 — during the early days of the pandemic. But just before he was due to depart, both his flight and visa were canceled, he said.
India suspended all tourist visas early into the pandemic in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19.
“The wait lasted for five years… Must go to India,” he wrote in a post on Monday.
Another Chinese netizen said he hoped to attend the Indian festival of Holi, also known as the festival of colors, which involves people donning simple, inexpensive clothes and taking to the streets to smear each other with colored powder and engage in mass water fights.
“Is there a chance to make it to Holi in March?” he wondered.
Passengers were previously able to travel directly between Beijing and New Delhi within seven hours. Presently, those wishing to travel between the two capitals are required to transit at destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur adding between six and 10 hours to the journey.
Anayat Ali, an Indian PhD student in Shanghai told CNN he “welcomed the news enthusiastically.”
Ali said he and other Indian students in China were sick of the long layovers and high ticket prices every time they wanted to return home.
“With direct flights, I can visit family more frequently, reduce expenses and avoid the stress of layovers,” he said.
Chinese authorities and airlines had been asking India’s civil aviation authorities to re-establish direct flights, but New Delhi had resisted the calls, Reuters reported last June.
But the drawn-out negotiations have prompted some on Weibo to express doubts about the possibility of visiting India anytime soon.
“It’s an agreement in principle,” one of them noted on Monday.
International broadcasters DAZN Italy, DIRECTV Argentina and TV2 Norway enjoyed a unique experience in the Spanish capital with Atlético de Madrid – Villarreal as the grand finale.
Among the prominent guests were Giusy Meloni from DAZN Italy, influencer Thomas Dylans and journalist Diego Korol representing DIRECTV Argentina, and Norwegian reporter Eirik Hjelvik from TV2. They all enjoyed an unforgettable trip that began with an introduction to the essence of LALIGA EXPERIENCE and its global impact.
On the second day of the experience, the guests watched Atlético de Madrid train under Diego Simeone. Afterwards, they conducted exclusive interviews with Nahuel Molina and Alexander Sørloth. The visit to the museum and the tour of the stadium were among the highlights, as they immersed themselves in the history of the club and were given access to the pitch and the Atlético de Madrid dressing room.
The trip also included a special visit to CD Leganés training, where attendees had the opportunity to talk to Peruvian midfielder Renato Tapia and learn about the preparation of the team from Leganés.
See the sights of Toledo and Segovia from Madrid. Access the former palace of the Alcázar of Segovia and marvel at the art and architecture of Toledo Cathedral.
Highlights
· See the main attractions of Segovia and Toledo in a day
· Marvel at the magnificent interior of Toledo Cathedral
· Explore the Roman aqueduct and Alcázar of Segovia
Full Description
Discover the historic cities of Toledo and Segovia from Madrid. Admire the imposing Alcázar of Segovia, the Cathedral of Toledo, as you stroll through both cities learning about their fascinating history. Depart Madrid and journey first to the city of Segovia. See the UNESCO World Heritage Roman aqueduct. Marvel at the iconic 1st-century monument, considered the most important example of Roman-era civil engineering in Spain. Visit the royal palace of the Alcázar of Segovia, built on a rocky crag above the confluence of 2 rivers near the Guadarrama mountains.
Continue to the imperial city of Toledo.
Once in Toledo, discover the medieval neighborhoods and historical monuments of the city on a walking tour and learn why it is called the City of Three Cultures. Depending on the option selected, finish with a tour inside Toledo Cathedral. Return to the center of Madrid at the end of your day.
Great service comes as standard
Full board available in buffet and main restaurant
Gym, pools and relaxation
West End-style theatre shows
Children Clubs and activities 
