It’s Monday! Today, we will explore MSC Cruises before we dive into its fleet of ships.
MSC Cruises was founded in 1988 in Naples, Italy, as part of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it is the world’s largest privately held cruise line as well as the third-largest cruise line behind Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Group.
In 1988, Gianluigi Aponte, founder of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, purchased his first ship and entered the cruise industry. The cruise line became known as StarLauro Cruises and sailed under that name until 1995, when it was rebranded as MSC Cruises. The ships were reimagined and their livery was changed to a white funnel with the MSC logo.
MSC Cruises currently operates a fleet of 23 ships, with a 24th to debut in 2026. The ships fall into one of six classes–Lirica, Musica, Fantasia, Meraviglia, Seaside or World. In the early 2000s, MSC placed its first new-build orders with Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard for two ships.
The Lirica class ships debuted in 2003 with MSC Lirica. She was followed by her sister ship, MSC Opera, in 2004. The same year, MSC Cruises acquired two ships from Festival Cruises and rebranded them as MSC Armonia and MSC Sinfonia.
In 2006, the cruise line introduced the first of four ships in the Musica class–MSC Musica. She was followed by MSC Orchestra in 2007 and MSC Poesia in 2008. A new class of ship, the Fantasia class, was introduced in 2008 with the debut of MSC Fantasia. She was followed by MSC Splendida in 2009. In 2010, MSC Cruises debuted the final Musica class ship, MSC Magnifica. The third ship in the Fantasia class debuted in 2012 as MSC Divina, followed by her sister ship MSC Preziosa, in 2013.
MSC Divina and MSC Preziosa are the largest of the Fantasia class and remained the largest ships in the fleet until 2017 when the cruise line debuted MSC Meraviglia and the Meraviglia class. A few months later, the Seaside class was introduced with the debut of MSC Seaside. A second Seaside class ship, MSC Seaview, and a second Meraviglia class ship, MSC Bellissima, debuted in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Just a few months after the debut of MSC Bellissima, MSC Cruises introduced a sub-class of Meraviglia ship–Meraviglia Plus. Three ships are in this class–MSC Grandiosa (2019), MSC Virtuosa (2021) and MSC Euribia (2023).
Additionally, upon delivery of MSC Seaside, MSC Cruises announced it had two more cruise ships on order, which were a sub-class of and slightly larger than the Seaside class–Seaside EVO. MSC Seashore debuted in 2021 and MSC Seascape debuted in 2022.
In 2022, a new class of ships was introduced–the World class. MSC World Europa debuted in 2022 as the largest ship in the fleet and the first in the fleet powered by LNG. She was delivered on October 24, 2022, the same day construction of her sister ship, MSC World America, began. She began sailing from Miami in April 2025. Next in the class is MSC World Asia, which is expected to debut in 2026.
In April 2025, MSC Cruise Division opened the new MSC Barcelona Cruise Terminal, which serves both MSC Cruises and MSC’s Explora Journeys. The following month, MSC Cruise Division opened the new MSC Miami Cruise Terminal–the largest cruise terminal in the world.
In 2015, MSC Cruises signed an agreement with the Bahamian government to redevelop Ocean Cay into a private destination for the cruise line. The result is Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve–a private destination exclusively for MSC Cruises guests. The island was developed with the help of a team of marine biologists and scientists to ensure the restoration remained focused on marine conservation. Guests will enjoy any one of the 8 beaches, the amazing water activities, romantic sunsets, the Bahamian village, a tour of the beautiful red and white lighthouse, and so much more.
Interestingly, iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren has served as godmother for nearly all of MSC Cruises’ ships. The cruise line broke from this tradition when it chose the Vice Chairperson and CEO of the Qatar Foundation, Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, as the godmother of MSC World Europa. She christened the ship in Doha, Qatar, in November 2022, just before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The next few Mondays, we will take a closer look at each class of ships for MSC Cruises.