MSC Cruises has been sailing from Port Canaveral for less than two years, but it’s set to bring in its third vessel in a new class this month.
The arrival of MSC Seaside, the first in the line’s Seaside class of vessels and first designed specifically for the North American market, will take over duties sailing from the Orlando-area port on April 19 to begin three-, four- and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean.
The 4,140-passenger, 153,516-ton ship debuted in December 2017 out of Miami.
“It’s a class of vessel that was designed for the warm weather traits such as the Caribbean traits,” said port CEO Capt. John Murray at the port commission meeting on April 5. “It’s got a lot of open decks on it. ... When you see it you’ll notice that it looks different than the other vessels in port. It’s really a unique design ... essentially new because it didn’t run for 18 months during COVID. So it’s an exciting ship to have here.”
It takes over duties from MSC Meraviglia which is headed for New York. Meraviglia had been trading time with MSC Divina, which was the first ship for the line to sail from Port Canaveral when it arrived in September 2021.
MSC Seaside brings some notable features including specialty dining from Celebrity Chef Roy Yamaguchi, a decadent coffee and chocolate bar, Italian-style pizza made in a wood-fire oven and top-deck thrills from a zip line and a shaded water park with four slides.
The aft of the ship is a big draw design-wise with its Deck 7 South Beach Pool and a pair of glass elevators that rise like a Miami condo skyline up to Deck 16 offering fantastic views and access to the curving “Bridge of Sighs,” a glass walkway that looks nine decks down for those willing to traverse it.
Seaside’s stay will be short-lived, though, just sailing over the summer months before the arrival of the line’s larger MSC Seashore, part of what is called the Seaside EVO class, which will take over in the fall.
Seashore’s design is similar to Seaside but comes in at 169,500 gross tons, 1,112 feet in length and a passenger capacity of 4,540 based on double occupancy. That’s about 16,000 gross tons bigger, 52 feet longer and 400 passengers more than Seaside.
That will make four ships within two years for the port as part of MSC Cruises’ growing plans to compete with the likes of Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian in North America.
A big part of that is the construction of the company’s new terminal in PortMiami that will be capable of supporting 36,000 passengers a day from up to three ships docked at once. The line announced at the Seatrade Cruise Global conference last month that it will be bringing one of the world’s largest ships to Miami when it debuts in 2025, the MSC World America.
The World class comes in just shy of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class of ships, the fleet of which are currently tied for the world’s largest, although they’ll be dwarfed by the even larger Icon of the Seas being delivered to Royal Caribbean in December.
The first World class ship, MSC Europa that debuted this year sails as the name suggests in Europe. World Europa comes in at 205,700 gross tons and is able to carry 6,762 passengers based on double occupancy from its 2,626 cabins.
MSC World America will be of equal size and just like Europa run on liquefied natural gas, part of a growing number of new ships to run on the lower-emission fuel. Carnival’s Mardi Gras became the first in North America to run on LNG when it debuted in summer 2021 and has since been joined by Disney Wish and Carnival Celebration.
Its debut in Miami will make it the fourth MSC Cruises ship to make it to North America for its inaugural season.
“This is not only part of our commitment to growth in the North American market, but also to bring our newest and most innovative ships to the region for our international guests from around the world,” said MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato.
The ship’s size will invite segmentation similar to how Royal’s Oasis class and Carnival’s Mardi Gras class carve up space into neighborhoods.
One such space will be The Harbor, designed to support families with kids. The space will feature a water park, zip line, food trucks and other features catering to both younger and older family members so they can stay within one area.
Two new dining concepts are among 13 restaurant options, six of which are specialty restaurants. The ship’s massive space allots for both an outdoor World Promenade and indoor World Galleria with lounges, restaurants and shopping. The ship will also feature the line’s first comedy club and a reimagined sports bar concept.
Although the ship is once again attempting to focus on North American customers, the line plans to lean on its European heritage said, MSC Cruises USA president Rubén Rodríguez.
“Our goal with this ship is to go beyond her long list of features with thoughtful touches that make each guest’s cruise experience unique and memorable,” he said.
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