MSC Cruises and Fincantieri have celebrated the float out of the new MSC Seaview. The ceremony, held at the Monfalcone shipyard in Italy, officially marked the first time that the vessel has touched water since beginning construction.
As the second of MSC Cruises’ Seaside generation of cruise ships, MSC Seaview is based on a new prototype that aims to bring guests closer to the sea with a design specifically for warmer climates. The ship is set to come into service in June 2018, six months after its sibling vessel MSC Seaside debuts and arrives in Miami in December 2017, following a Grand Voyage from Trieste, Italy to Miami, Florida.
MSC Seaview will sail its inaugural 2018 summer season in the Mediterranean. Guests can discover seven ports from four different countries, including Genoa, Naples, Messina, Valetta, Barcelona and Marseille.
Following its inaugural season, MSC Seaview will head to Brazil and the Southern hemisphere for the winter 2018-2019 season, with ports of call in Santos, Ilha Grande, Buzios, Porto Belo and Camboriu.
The ship is part of a 10 year investment plan that will have already seen the delivery of six new ships by 2020, said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises.
The float out is a key milestone in the construction of a cruise ship, marking the completion of the ship’s exterior. The dry dock is flooded and the vessel meets water for the first time before being moved to a wet dock. Now, in the final phase of construction, work begins to complete the interiors, fixtures and furnishings.
MSC Seaview is the second of two identical ships in the Seaside class — at 1,060 ft. long and 154,000 GRTs — and holding a maximum capacity of 5,179 guests (4,134 at double occupancy).
The launch of MSC Seaview will mark the third next-generation ship from MSC Cruises to come into service in 12 months, following MSC Meraviglia (June 2017) and the MSC Seaside (December 2017).
Visit www.msccruisesusa.com
Related Stories
Holly Sievers, Brett Draper Join MSC Cruises USA Sales Team
MSC’s New Meraviglia to Sail With Port Info Service