With the arrival of the MSC Magnifica next spring, MSC Cruises will have its largest presence in the U.S. next year with five ships, nearly a quarter of its fleet.  

The 3,223-passenger Magnifica, now in the Mediterranean, will sail short voyages to the Bahamas and Key West out of Miami beginning next May.

“We’re not a household brand in the U.S. To do that, we have to be in ports where a majority of people are,” said Koreen McNutt, MSC Cruises USA’s senior vice president and commercial sales officer. “We’ve had ships that come for six months and then they leave. We need ships here year-round, [including] in New York.” 

MSC will be sailing out of Brooklyn, Miami and Port Canaveral. The line expects its new terminal under construction in Miami, which will be large enough to accommodate three of its ships, to be completed by the end of 2023. 

The brand plans to broaden its itineraries in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Northeast and Canada with the expansion. 

As previously announced, MSC will station its newest ship in Port Miami later this year. The 5,179-passenger MSC Seascape, due out in December, will sail seven-night cruises in the Eastern and Western Caribbean. The 3,502-passenger MSC Divina, which now sails from Miami, will also sail cruises ranging from three nights to the Bahamas to 11 nights to Central and South America. 

The 5,179-passenger MSC Seashore, which debuted in 2021, is now sailing from Miami but will redeploy to Port Canaveral, offering a mix of short cruises to the Bahamas and seven-night Western Caribbean sailings beginning in November of 2023. The ship will be the first of its Seaside EVO subclass to sail from Port Canaveral.

As previously announced, MSC will homeport the 5,714-passenger MSC Meraviglia in Brooklyn in April 2023. The ship will sail to Bermuda, Florida and the Bahamas. The ship is currently sailing from Port Canaveral. 

Source: Read Full Article