MSC Cruises celebrated with Chantiers de I’Atlantique on Thursday, March 27, 2025, as the shipyard delivered MSC World America to the cruise line. They also celebrated milestones for her sister ships during the coin ceremony for MSC World Asia and the steel cutting for the newly named MSC World Atlantic. MSC World America is the cruise line’s second World Class ship and the 23rd ship in the fleet.
On hand for the celebration were Captain Gianluigi Aponte, Founder and Group Chairman of MSC; Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division; Laurent Castaing, Chantiers de l’Atlantique General Manager; and the French Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci. They were joined by representatives of MSC Cruises’ new build team and shipyard workers who built the ship over the last 30 months.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, Cruise Division, MSC Group, said, “Today is a proud moment for all of us at MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique as we mark these major milestones in the development of our fleet. Our new flagship is a testament to our long-standing, innovative partnership spanning over 20 years, resulting in five groundbreaking prototypes and 19 ships. Together, we continue to push boundaries, combining cutting-edge design, the latest technologies, and a richness of experiences to set new standards in cruising and always striving to further improve the environmental performance of each ship. We look forward to raising the bar even higher with the upcoming MSC World Asia and MSC World Atlantic.”
MSC World America is now one of the most energy-efficient cruise ships in the world. Her engines run on LNG, she is equipped with shore power, has an advanced wastewater treatment system and an onboard recycling plant.
Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, stated, “To date, MSC World America has the best energy efficiency design index (EEDI) from the IMO, and therefore the lowest carbon footprint of the entire cruise industry… and we will go even further with the two sisterships we are celebrating today!”
MSC World Asia celebrated its coin ceremony when Marialuisa Iaccarino, VP Shore Excursions for MSC Cruises; and Flavie Biondo, Chargé d’affaires for Chantiers de l’Atlantique placed the ceremonial coin in the ship’s hull as a sign of blessing and good fortune. MSC World Asia will begin sailing the Mediterranean to France, Italy , Spain and Malta during the 2026-2027 winter season.
MSC Cruises also began construction of its fourth World Class ship with the ceremonial steel cutting. The cruise line also revealed the ship’s name–MSC World Atlantic. The vessel will sail from Port Canaveral and offer Caribbean voyages during the 2027-28 winter season.
MSC World America will officially be named on April 9, 2025 at the company’s new MSC Miami Cruise Terminal by her godmother, Drew Barrymore. She will enter service on April 12, 2025 from Miami and offer 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Her Eastern voyages will call on Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the cruise line’s private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. Her Western Caribbean voyages will call on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Ocean Cay.