CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that MSC Cruises' World-class will not be the largest in capacity when it is launched as originally reported.
MSC Cruises' new MSC Seaside is soon on its way to voyages from North America, and the line's latest MSC Meraviglia has also just launched.
Its future World-class is set to make even bigger waves.
"Today, as we unveil MSC Meraviglia, a new vessel that marks the start of the next phase of our growth, we are delighted to confirm another key component of our ten-year investment plan: the World Class," said Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises' Executive Chairman, in a press release.
"These new vessels will further expand our partnership with STX France all the way to 2026, with up to seven additional innovative ships to be built during this period."
MSC officially has on order two 200,000 GRT World-class ships with an option for another two.
Each will have a maximum guest capacity of 6,850 spread out across 2,760 cabins. The ships will be quite sizable with a length of 1,083 feet and width of 154 feet.
The new vessels will be LNG (liquefied natural gas)-powered and include a new generation system for waste water treatment. The first two are set for delivery in 2022 and 2024 with a potential remaining pair in 2025 and 2026.
Not much yet is known about the ship's other internal features, but the rendering above and video available on STX France's YouTube channel embedded below show off quite a bit of the exterior. Most notably, it will sport a 90-degree vertical G bow, which MSC says will enhance stability, hydrodynamics and guest comfort.
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From a bird's eye view, it will also be Y-shaped with an exterior promenade decking amidship and a panoramic courtyard at the stern in order to maximize the proportion of balcony staterooms according to the line. The video also briefly mentions a square cabin design, which itself is quite interesting.
Most staterooms on cruise ships are very rectangular, narrow and long. So, a square layout will indeed be uniquely innovative. Otherwise, we know the ship will have some sort of glass pool lounge, family-friendly villages and at least one waterslide.
What all that means exactly is still to be seen.
[READMORE]READ MORE: MSC Cruises Has Big Plans for North America[/READMORE]
Architecturally, MSC Cruises continues to be ahead of the curve, especially since this is one curvaceous ship. The vertical bow is certainly trending as other lines begin to employ it too, but the overall shape of the vessel is rather futuristically striking-like something out of a sci-fi film.
Unlike the MSC Seaside, it is not focused primarily on outside deck space with no full wraparound promenade, but the outdoors are certainly important with the large emphasis given to balconies. As for any interior promenades, it looks like the spine of the Y will displace any down the very center, leaving the main opening at the aft.
It's thus a distinct orientation with some familiar elements.
Where the ships will ultimately deploy will next be fascinating to follow. With a name like World-class, they are presumably primed to sail globally.
MSC Seaside is earmarked for year-round departures from the U.S. starting in December 2017 with MSC Meraviglia eventually set to join. With the MSC Divina scheduled to only seasonally sail from North America by 2019, it's very possible that one of the World-class ships will head to the Caribbean.
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