Three days after the MSC Magnifica flag ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in Saint-Nazaire (France), MSC Cruises signed a letter of intent for the delivery of a new ship in June 2012, to join the eleven new vessels built in the last 7 years. Measuring 333.3m in length and 38m in beam, MSC Favolosa will have a total of 1751 cabins and will be able to travel at speeds ofup 23.7 knots. Thanks to award-winning naval architects De Jorio Design International the new addition to the Fantasia class, technically called V32, will herald a state-of-the-art concept in space management, which will...

This year will be exciting with the introduction of 9 new cruise ships. The biggest and most discussed new vessel is Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Slated for her first voyage this spring, this floating city will rank as the largest cruise ship in history. Weighing in at 220,000-tons, the 5,400-passenger ship has created a buzz ever since Royal Caribbean announced the project. The Oasis will feature neighborhoods that replicate land based sites like Central Park and the Boardwalk.  Other innovations include an onboard “zip-line”, Aqua Theater and a bar that raises fi...

MSC Cruises has announced the extraordinary expansion of its fleet with the order of two additional ships from the Aker Yards France at St. Nazaire. The announcement was made today in Milan by Pierfrancesco Vago, CEO of MSC Cruises worldwide, and Domenico Pellegrino, MSC Cruises General Manager, and Jacques Hardelay, General Manager of Aker Yards France. The new ships -- due for delivery in 2011 and 2012 -- will be named MSC Meraviglia ("marvelous/amazing") and MSC Favolosa ("fabulous") and will be the fifth and sixth ships in the "Musica" class, at 9...

North American guests will be able to experience the Caribbean on two of MSC Cruises' newest and largest ships when MSC Poesia and MSC Magnifica arrive in Fort Lauderdale for their inaugural 2009-10 Caribbean seasons.  In addition to sailing on the two newest of the line's popular "Musica" class ships, guests can select from a variety of roundtrip itineraries that includes 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings and four different 10-night itineraries. Itineraries feature many of the most popular ports of call as well as several exciting not-so-often visited ports, ...

MSC Cruises has changed the name of its second post-Panamax ship to MSC Splendida to reflect the ship’s beauty and elegance. The name had been changed from MSC Serenata in response to the enthusiastic reaction of Raphaela Aponte, wife of cruise line owner Gianluigi Aponte, to the designs prepared by architect De Jorio. Mrs. Aponte is responsible for all the ship’s interior design details. “This unique ship has many wonderful attributes, including the attention to detail, the choice of colors and perfect harmony of the spaces,” declared Pierfrancesco Vago, CEO f...