Just Cruising

For a city with a seafaring heritage, big ships like today’s visitor MSC Magnifica are no strangers to Southampton.

In fact this liner on a ten day round trip of northern European ports is one of four cruise ships in port today. The others — Nautica, Andaperla and Azamara Pursuit.

For the summer Magnifica can call Southampton her home port although she initially spent most of her time operating in the Mediterranean after she was built and launched in St Nazaire, France eight or nine years ago.

A four month world cruise, her first, is planned early next year from the Italian port of Genoa and a similar round the world cruise in 2020.

This evening though, she is heading for Le Havre with 3,000 passengers.