Earlier today, on October 31, 2024, MSC Seaside arrived in Valencia, Spain, for her scheduled port call. However, her visit was likely not what anyone wanted or expected.
This is because Spain is currently in the midst of coping with one of the worst flooding disasters in decades – which so far has claimed at least 158 lives, with more missing, and resulted in significant damage and loss of power.
The storm, which made landfall on Tuesday, October 29, has been identified as a โgota fria.โ According to the BBC, these are natural weather events with intense rainfall that occur in the region in the fall and winter – but this storm was particularly severe due to global warming.
Unfortunately, the majority of the damage has been in Valencia, with the eastern city (located on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea) taking the brunt of the heavy rains.
But since calling on the port would not put any of MSC Seasideโs up to 5,331 guests in any danger, as the storm has now moved north, the captain and has team decided not to cancel the planned visit.
The vessel is also operating multiple itineraries simultaneously, which range in length from 17 to 23 days, and a good portion of cruisers were expecting to disembark and a new round of passengers were supposed to embark in the Spanish city – which to the relief of many, was still able to take place.
While the exact itineraries vary a bit, the end goal is for the 153,516-gross ton vessel to end up in Miami, Florida, on November 17, 2024 – which will be her homeport throughout the winter as she sails throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
โWe will proceed to embark in Valencia tomorrow morning to accommodate disembarkation and embarkation of guests,โ Captain Danilo Cha advised guests in a letter on October 30.
This is a good thing as guests preparing to sail didnโt need to scramble to make new travel arrangements or find lodging, and guests disembarking would not find themselves stuck at sea longer than planned.
However, those disembarking had another hurdle in that the Valencia Airport was temporarily closed due to the natural disaster, disrupting around 80 flights, as was the high-speed train to Madrid, Spain.
But as of the time of this writing, the airport has resumed operations – but the high speed rail service is suspended until November 3 due to infrastructure damage and many forms of public transit are simply inaccessible.
Flooding Impacts the Port Experience
With multiple sailings occurring simultaneously onboard MSC Seaside, not everyone was embarking or disembarking during the visit. Some simply wanted to explore the popular port – which is famous for being the City of Arts and Sciences.
However, the flooding has made it impractical – and in many cases unsafe – for guests to come ashore and partake in planned shore excursions. Many roads remain closed, making popular activities inaccessible.
As such, MSC advised its passengers to stay onboard and cancelled all shore excursions.
โConsidering these exceptional circumstances, we strongly recommend that transit guests remain on board and enjoy MSC Seasideโs amenities as the city has been devastated by the flood with infrastructure and services massively disrupted,โ Captain Cha wrote to impacted guests.
All guests who booked a shore excursion through the cruise line will be provided with a full refund in the form of an onboard credit.
Read Also: What to Do Onboard a Cruise Ship in Bad Weather
That said, guests were not forbidden from going ashore on their own – even though the cruise line advised against it.
But Captain Cha made it clear that it would be up to the guests to make their own way and return to the port on time to avoid missing the shipโs departure. Normally, this wouldnโt be an issue – but the damage and blocked off roads likely made this more of a challenging task.ย
โGuests who decide to go ashore independently should note that we will not be able to provide transportation services between the ship and the city, so we encourage you to make independent arrangements if available. Please ensure your timely return to the shipโฆโ wrote Captain Cha.
Valencia’s city center is about 2.5 miles from the cruise port – and the current condition of the route to and from the dock is unclear. Although some might find this distance walkable, the cruise lines usually provide shuttles for convenience.
With first responders still looking for missing survivors and assessing the damage, itโs unclear when operations will return to normal in Valencia.
Ships from several major cruise lines are scheduled to call on the province capital city in the coming days – including Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Azamara, and more – and itโs likely that their guests will be met with a similarly altered experience compared to the normally active and lively tourism paradise.