Cruise Itinerary

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.

As you arrive in Funchal on an MSC cruise, your ship will cast anchor in a bay protected by mountains rising straight up behind the port. The name, Funchal, derives from that of the fennel plant, the funcho still used today in the traditional sweets known as rebuçados de funcho, that one can find anywhere on the island of Madeira. An excursion will take you around the town centre, to visit historic churches, from the A Sé Cathedral, with its inlaid ceiling, to the majestic Church of the Incarnation, to the church of Carmo without a vault. Another MSC excursion will take you up to the village of Monte, from where one can admire a spectacular view of the Funchal bay. You can visit its 18th century church and the tomb of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I, and stroll around the magnificent botanic gardens. But if you like heights, there’s nothing more impressive than the Cabo Girão and its 589 metre tall cliffs, amongst the highest in the world, at the foot of which lie the cultivated lands known as Fajãs do Cabo Girão. If you’re looking for an equipped beach during your MSC cruise, another excursion will take you to Machico. Founded in the 15th century, it hosts the oldest religious building on the island, the Capela dos Milagres, and the fortresses of São João Baptista and Nossa Senhora do Amparo built in the beginning of the 16th century. The more lively tourist attraction is instead in Calheta, on the south-west coast. Splendid yachts cruising across the Atlantic are moored in the port and if you want to go for a swim there are two beautiful beaches of golden sand; in spite of the modern structures Calheta dates back to the mid-15th century. This is where they make the “Aguardente”, the best white rhum, and fundamental ingredient of Madeira’s typical drink, the “Poncha” .

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a port city on the island of Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands. Well-preserved buildings in its old town include the colonial Church of the Immaculate Conception. The 1700s Palacio de Carta has baroque and neoclassical features. In the Old Civil Hospital, the Museum of Nature and Man has interactive displays on the islands. The city’s squares include the central Plaza de España.

The Canary archipelago was sculpted by a period of intense volcanic activity; its islands possess a stark, near lunar beauty. Gran Canaria is the third-largest island in the group and is often described as the 'Round Island' for its near-circular shape. Las Palmas, its capital, is also the largest city in the Canaries numbering some 500,000 inhabitants. Despite the seemingly inhospitable landscape, farmers in Gran Canaria's Angostura Valley cultivate abundant crops of tomatoes, onions, melons, and figs. Moreover the island's climates, lack of rainfall, and fine beaches have long drawn Europeans seeking the winter sun.

Lanzarote is the fourth-largest island in the Canary chain. The most easterly of the Canaries, the island lies some 70 miles off the shore of North Africa. Like its neighbours, Lanzarote was shaped by a period of intense volcanic activity. The resulting landscape possesses a stark, near-lunar beauty: Over 300 now-dormant volcanoes left behind petrified lava seas and deep layers of volcanic ash. Today, visitors to these "Mountains of Fire" ride camels through the lava beds and even enjoy a volcano-broiled steak at the park's restaurant. (Subsurface temperatures still reach 800F in the park.) Despite the seemingly barren land scape, island farmers grow abundant crops of tomatoes, onions, melons, and figs in addition to Malvasia, a clear yellow wine produced from malmsey grapes. Lanzarote's rugged landscape, its warm climate, its lack of rainfall, and its beaches have proved attracted to travellers: Tourism dominates the island economy with some 2 million visitors arriving annually.

See the famed Tower of Hercules, the still working 2nd century Roman lighthouse, and wander through this historic town of fine churches, old palaces, cobbled streets and unique fishermen's houses. Or spend the day in beautiful Santiago de Compostela, an important pilgrimage site renowned for its magnificent cathedral and superb architectural and cultural heritage.

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.