A forecast predicting westerly winds up to Force 8 for Sunday afternoon prevented the ship from entering Warnemünde, its regular German base port.
Instead, MSC Cruises and the ship's master decided to call Kiel where MSC Sinfonia berthed safely – assisted by two local tugboats – at noon.
Seatrade Cruise News understands the ship had some 2,000 passengers on-board, including several hundred Germans on turnaround.
The majority of guests had embarked newly at Copenhagen on the previous day.
The partial turnaround took place at Ostseekai during Sunday afternoon.
Also several trucks supplying stores and provisions were redirected to Kiel, and an alternative excursions program was offered to MSC Sinfonia's transit guests.
According to local reports, the unplanned operation ticked over like clockwork without problems. On Sunday evening, MSC Sinfonia left Kiel bound for her scheduled cruise to Norway. It was the ship's first visit to Kiel.
