{"id":205035,"date":"2026-01-22T06:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/?p=205035"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:24:51","slug":"msc-cruises-to-homeport-in-la-romana-operate-new-year-round-itinerary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/msc-cruises-to-homeport-in-la-romana-operate-new-year-round-itinerary\/","title":{"rendered":"MSC Cruises to homeport in La Romana, operate new, year-round itinerary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-180823\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/MSC-Opera_1024x786.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"786\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/MSC-Opera_1024x786.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/MSC-Opera_1024x786-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/MSC-Opera_1024x786-768x590.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>MSC Cruises is launching a new, year-round operation from La Romana, Dominican Republic beginning November 2026 that marks a first for the cruise line in the Southern Caribbean and which will provide a new option for Canadian sun seekers.<\/p>\n<p>Announced during FITUR, the International Tourism Trade Fair taking place in Madrid \u2013 and with the Dominican Republic\u2019s Minister of Tourism, David Collado looking on &#8212; the cruise line indicated that La Romana would be its new homeport for the year-round operation and that it was committed to that operation for the long term.<\/p>\n<p>Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises\u2019 CEO, pointed out that: \u201cMSC Cruises first started calling in the Dominican Republic in 2014, so after more than ten years it is a proud moment for me to speak about our new homeporting offering in La Romana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Onorato continued: \u201cWith year-round operations we extend the traditional season, bringing positive economic impact to the local community and bringing 120,000 additional international visitors to La Romana each year. MSC Cruises is committed to the Dominican Republic and this new program for the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-205036\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MSC-Cruises-Dominican-Republic_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MSC-Cruises-Dominican-Republic_1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MSC-Cruises-Dominican-Republic_1024x768-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MSC-Cruises-Dominican-Republic_1024x768-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>MSC Opera\u00a0will operate a brand-new itinerary, with weekly departures, and offering guests the opportunity to book a seven-night sailing or extend their cruise to a back-to-back 14-night \u2018butterfly\u2019 cruise.<\/p>\n<p>Ports of call include La Romana, Dominican Republic; Catalina Island, Dominican Republic; Fort-de-France, Martinique; Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands; and St. John\u2019s, Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>\n<p>La Romana\u2019s year-round deployment is particularly relevant for Canadian travellers, as their demand for warm-weather escapes remains consistently strong. With direct and one-stop flight options from major Canadian gateways, the new itinerary offers travellers convenient access to the Southern Caribbean and an appealing alternative to traditional winter travel routes.<\/p>\n<p>Sailings are already available for booking, with the first cruise departing on\u00a0Nov. 16, 2026. For full itinerary information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msccruises.ca\/plan-a-cruise\/destinations\/caribbean-antilles\/dominican-republic\/la-romana\">MSC Cruises\u2019 website\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With multiple international airports, The Dominican Republic offers convenient connections from all over the world.\u00a0MSC Opera\u2019s\u00a0program will bring\u00a0120,000 international visitors\u00a0to La Romana each year, meaning 240,000 in-bound and out-bound flight passengers, and a boost to hotels, restaurants, bars and businesses in the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the photo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Seen here, from l to r, are Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises and David Collado, Minister of Tourism, Dominican Republic<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Go to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msccruises.ca\">www.msccruises.ca<\/a> for more.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MSC Cruises is launching a new, year-round operation from La Romana, Dominican Republic beginning November 2026 that marks a first for the cruise line in the Southern Caribbean and which will provide a new option for Canadian sun seekers. Announced during FITUR, the International Tourism Trade Fair taking place in Madrid \u2013 and with the<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/msc-cruises-to-homeport-in-la-romana-operate-new-year-round-itinerary\/\">more &#8250;<\/a>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"kia_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[4325,1713,1945],"front_page":[],"class_list":["post-205035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruise","category-news","tag-la-romana","tag-msc-cruises","tag-msc-opera"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205049,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205035\/revisions\/205049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205035"},{"taxonomy":"front_page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/front_page?post=205035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}