Watch out, Royal Caribbean: This cruise line is bringing more big new ships to North America
Make those five ships MSC Cruises will be available in North America soon.
The fast-growing Europe-based shipping line said Thursday it will increase the number of its ships in major North American travel hubs such as Miami; Port Canaveral, Florida; and New York from 3 to 5 by the end of 2023 as it continues to expand rapidly in the market.
The five-vessel deployment, which will take place around the 2023 holiday season, will mark the first time the 19-vessel brand has five ships in North America at once. The rollout will mean that nearly a quarter of the airline’s entire fleet will be in North America – a new mark for the brand in its North American expansion.
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Most recently in 2017, MSC Cruises had a single vessel based in North America and mainly focused on European sailings for Europeans, as well as Asia, Africa and South America cruises. America. But the brand quickly established itself in North America in an attempt to attract more Americans.
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This year MSC Cruises is operating three ships in North America – two in Miami and one in Port Canaveral. But they have said that they will add a fourth ship in early 2023 when it starts its first operation out of New York.
The fifth North American vessel announced on Thursday will arrive at the end of 2023. It will be the MSC Divina with 3,502 passengers, which has sailed in North America in the past and is familiar to many of the route’s North American customers. .
Given its arrival, the North American rollout of MSC Cruises by the end of 2023 will look like this:
- PortMiami: 4,540 passengers Seascape MSC will conduct seven-night Caribbean cruises out of Miami year-round. 2,550 passengers MSC Magnifica will do short out-of-port excursions to the Bahamas and Key West, Florida, year-round. 3,502 passengers MSC Divina will operate a series of voyages ranging from 3 to 11 nights, with longer voyages heading to Central and South America at least through the winter of 2023-2024.
- Port Canaveral: 4,540 passengers MSC Seashore (which will replace the slightly smaller, 4,132-passenger MSC Seaside) will do a combination of short cruises to the Bahamas and seven-night Western Caribbean cruises year-round.
- New York City: 4,500 passengers MSC Meraviglia will sail to Bermuda, Florida and the Bahamas in the fall and winter of 2023 after completing its inaugural summer in the Northeast with a series of voyages to both Florida and the Bahamas and to Canada and New England. The ship will be built in New York year-round.
Thursday’s new deployment announcement marks a major milestone for MSC Cruises, which for many years has been a relatively small player in North American operations. An expansion to five ships in the region by the end of 2023, up from three now, will give it a new critical mass to take on North American hypersonic giants like Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line in the North American market.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to MSC Cruises
“Bringing more ships to the U.S. allows us to offer more itineraries, add new destinations, and offer more opportunities for travelers to discover a unique international taste,” said MSC Cruises USA President Rubén Rodríguez. unique,” said MSC Cruises USA President Rubén Rodríguez in a statement accompanying the announcement.
MSC Cruises USA is a division of MSC Cruises of the United States, headquartered in Switzerland.
The announcement comes amid a booming expansion of MSC Cruises, which has grown faster than any other major shipping line in recent years. The carrier has added seven new ships since 2017 and has two new ships joining the fleet this year.
While it is well known to Europeans, MSC Cruises is much less known to Americans than large line, based in the United States like Royal Caribbean and Carnival. However, the airline has been actively working with the addition of ships in North America to change that.
Related: The 7 most anticipated new ships in 2022
All ships based in North America are heavily marketed to Americans.
Founded in 1989 in Naples, Italy, MSC Cruises has in recent years been building large, resort-like vessels to compete with the largest ships from Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. It currently operates five of the 20 largest cruise ships in the world.
The airline is also in the process of building the largest cruise terminal in North America at PortMiami. It will be able to accommodate the line’s three largest ships at once.
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