MSC Cruises announced last night it would be entering the ultra-luxury segment with four new ships to be built at Italian shipyard, Fincantieri.
Arriving in the northern hemisphere spring of 2023, the first ship will have just 500 cabins and the other three ships will come into service, one per year over the following three years.
The ships will be environmentally friendly and will also have ground-breaking options – all of which are yet to be revealed.
MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago said that it was MSC’s successful private area, the Yacht Club, which inspired the cruise line to venture into the luxury segment of the cruise industry.
“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 personalised MSC Yacht Club butler service, available 24/7,” said Pierfrancesvo Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman.
“I am especially pleased to be able to further extend our partnership with Fincantieri through this new order. The award-winning Seaside and Seaside-Evo class have already been recognised as ground-breaking and innovative designs. We are now introducing another new class, which will establish a new standard of ultra-luxury at sea with ships that will showcase the quality and highest standards that are associated with Made in Italy.”
The world’s largest privately owned company already has a total of 17 ships on order between now and 2027.
Of these, three have already come into service since June 2017 MSC Meraviglia,
MSC Seaside and MSCSeaview. Two more – MSC Bellissima and MSC Grandiosa – will be delivered in February and October 2019, respectively. All five ships will feature MSC Cruises’ existing ship-within-a-ship luxury concept, the award-winning next-generation MSC Yacht Club.
