Leading cruise operator MSC Cruises announced on Wednesday in Athens a first for the Swiss-based operator: the launch of a new route across the Aegean and the East Mediterranean that will have Piraeus as its homeport, ekathimerini.com reports.

MSC, which has seen the number of its passengers visiting Greece rise by 41 percent over the last three years, has decided the time has come for Piraeus to serve not just as a port of call but also as the home port of a route starting in May 2021. It will be a seven-day cruise on the MSC Lirica vessel that will also visit Mykonos, Haifa, Limassol, Rhodes, and Kusadasi before returning to Piraeus, the company’s executive director Angelo Capurro said.

“With Venice having the well-known restrictions, we sought alternative solutions, and Piraeus appears ideal. We are starting with a smaller ship, to test the waters,” he noted.

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