MSC Cruises has signed a strategic collaboration with iryo, a private high-speed rail operator owned by Trenitalia's partners, Air Nostrum and Globalvia.
This alliance was formed with the aim of facilitating access to and arrival at Spanish ports for cruise passengers. The agreement was celebrated last Friday at a joint event between the two companies aboard the MSC World Europain the port of Barcelona, attended by Fernando Pacheco, Managing Director of MSC Cruises in Spain; Leonardo Massa, Vice President for Southern Europe at MSC Cruises; and Simone Gorini, CEO and General Manager of iryo.
This alliance embodies the company's firm commitment to continuously improving the customer experience and its dedication to connecting Spaniards with their embarkation ports. Thus, starting in September 2024, coinciding with the beginning of the Autumn-Winter season, passengers booking a cruise with MSC Cruises will be able to combine their reservation with iryo services, allowing them to travel quickly and efficiently from their cities of origin to the embarkation port via the high-speed rail line.
In the words of Fernando Pacheco, Managing Director of MSC Cruises in Spain: “This collaboration with iryo represents a further step in our ongoing commitment to improving connections with Spanish ports. We are delighted to offer our passengers an even more direct and efficient way to reach our ships. Our goal is to continue seeking agile and sustainable mobility alternatives that adapt to the preferences of all types of travelers. Without a doubt, the train is one of the most popular options in Spain today, thanks to its speed and comfort; and if there's one thing that characterizes us, it's listening to the traveler and responding to their needs. The experience must be excellent from the very first moment.”
According to Simone Gorini, CEO and General Manager of iryo, “This is the purpose of 'iryo Conecta', the brand with which we want to become benchmarks for multimodality by simplifying the way we travel and seeking synergies with other colleagues in the sector such as MSC Cruises who share our values and want to be part of this new era of mobility.”
Commitment to port accessibility
MSC Cruises currently has eight embarkation ports in Spain, having considerably increased its presence in Spain since 2019, where it had three embarkation ports (Valencia, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca) and to which the ports of Tarragona, Alicante, Malaga, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and, this year, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have been added.
With the iryo service, multiple Spanish cities, including Madrid, Zaragoza, Seville, Cordoba, and Malaga, will now be connected via high-speed rail to the embarkation and disembarkation ports where MSC Cruises operates, such as Barcelona and Valencia. Furthermore, the number of cities connected through this agreement is expected to increase. This new option, which will also include a transfer service between the port and the train station, will be available throughout the winter season.
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