MSC shore excursions

How MSC shore excursions work

MSC sells its excursions through your booking on the MSC website and app before you sail, and at the excursion desk on board. Tours are grouped by type and by how active they are, from panoramic coach rides with little walking to hikes, bike rides and water sports, so check the activity rating before you book. Whether any excursions come with your fare depends on the fare type and booking market, so check your own confirmation rather than assuming.

The cards below show the ports MSC calls at most in the next 90 days, each with a link to independent tours in that port. The fleet list shows which ship sails where.

When the MSC excursion is worth it

The ship's tour earns its price where logistics are the problem rather than the sights:

• Long transfers. Civitavecchia is about 80 km from Rome, Livorno is a long coach ride from Florence, and Le Havre is roughly a two-hour drive each way from Paris. Traffic on the way back is the real risk, and on the ship's tour that risk is MSC's, not yours.
• Tender ports. Where the ship anchors offshore, excursion guests usually go ashore first. Independent travelers queue for tender tickets.
• Tight windows. A short call leaves no slack for a late train or a slow taxi.
• Guaranteed return. If an MSC tour runs late, the ship waits or MSC gets you to the next port. Independent tours carry no such promise.

When an independent tour is better

In ports where the ship docks close to town, going on your own usually wins. Barcelona, Marseille's Old Port, Naples, Palma, Valletta and Nassau are all easy to do with a short walk, shuttle or taxi. Independent tours also tend to run in smaller groups, and most booking platforms offer free cancellation up to a day or so before, which helps if the itinerary changes or the weather turns.

The all-aboard rule and the two-hour margin

All-aboard time is usually 30 to 60 minutes before departure and is printed in your daily program. The ship will not wait for independent guests. Plan to be back at the pier two hours before all-aboard, carry your cruise card and photo ID, and save the port agent's number listed in the daily program. If you miss the ship, getting to the next port is at your own cost.

MSC's most-visited ports in our data

Across 398 MSC sailings departing in the next 90 days, these ports appear most often:

1. Marseille: 131 sailings
2. Barcelona: 123
3. Genoa: 110
4. Civitavecchia (for Rome): 68
5. Livorno (for Florence and Pisa): 54
6. Palermo: 52
7. Valletta: 46
8. Ocean Cay: 45
9. Naples: 42
10. Nassau and Corfu: 34 each

Our itinerary feed does not yet carry reliable arrival and departure times for MSC calls, so we do not quote hours in port here. Check the times on your booking, then pick a tour from the port cards that fits that window with the two-hour margin to spare. For the regions behind this list, see Mediterranean cruises and Caribbean cruises.

Ocean Cay: excursions on MSC's private island

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is in the Bahamas, and ships dock at a pier. Excursions there are mostly beach and water activities, such as snorkeling and paddling, and you can just as easily spend the day on the sand for free. Many MSC itineraries in our data list Ocean Cay twice, so you may get more than one day there. The island is reserved for MSC guests, so any paid activity there is booked through MSC.

What to expect on price

Independent tours are typically cheaper than the ship's version of the same trip, mainly because you are not paying for the guaranteed return. We do not collect excursion prices, so we cannot give you a percentage. Compare the MSC price for your port against the independent options linked from the port cards, and weigh the saving against the transfer risk.

For more on the line itself, see our MSC Cruises guide. To see where your ship is right now, use the MSC fleet tracker.