MSC Cruises to Build Four Ultra-Luxury Cruise Ships
The ultra-luxury cruise market is heating up.
La dolce vita will get even sweeter when MSC Cruises launches their new ultra-luxury cruise ships. To the tune of over $2.3 billion USD, MSC Cruises has announced that they have signed a memorandum of agreement to construct four new and smaller ultra-luxury cruise ships. Looks like MSC Cruises is about to go bow to bow with the likes of Crystal Cruises, Regent, Silversea (now under the Royal Caribbean brand) and Seabourn. The ultra-luxury cruise market is heating up.
A few details about the new ships
The first ultra-luxury ship is expected to be delivered in Spring 2023 and will accommodate 1,000 guests. With MSC’s concern on their cruise ships’ carbon footprint, the new smaller ships will feature the latest environmental technology. As MSC Cruises’ ultra-luxury segment, the new ships will of course offer guests a superior level of comfort and relaxation. At only 500 staterooms, these new ultra-luxury cruise ships will carry a fraction of what MSC’s two newest ships accommodate – a whopping 5,429 passengers. While the new MSC Seaside (2017) and MSC Seaview (2018) are absolutely gorgeous floating cities, you can bet that the four new ultra-luxury cruise ships will be mini-beauties, in their own right.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman, said: “It is off the back of the great success of our ship-within-a-ship luxury concept that our guests asked us to enter into the ultra-luxury segment, as a natural evolution of the MSC Yacht Club. These ships will be able to offer unique itineraries, thanks to their size, and the guest services will be taken to another level, including our personalized MSC Yacht Club butler service, available 24/7.
As the world’s largest privately-owned cruise company, Switzerland-based MSC Cruises now has a total of 14 new cruise ships to be built by 2027. Three new cruise ships have been launched since June 2017; MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview. Two more, MSC Bellissima and MSC Grandiosa – both accommodating up to 4,500 passengers, will be delivered in February and October 2019. All five ships will feature MSC Cruises’ ship-within-a-ship luxury concept with its next-generation MSC Yacht Club.
