MSC Cruises and shipbuilder Chantiers de L’Atlantique held a maritime coin ceremony for the cruise line’s first liquified natural gas LNG-powered ship, MSC World Europa, on Monday 29 June 2020.

MSC Cruises has unveiled its full Northern Winter 2020/2021 Season of over 90 itineraries through the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula, South Africa, South America and Asia. Itineraries range in length from two to 24 nights, along with the third MSC World Cruise departing in January 2021 and an extensive Grand Voyages program.

MSC Cruises has launched a range of 25+ new shore excursions, which set objectives for local tour operators to become internationally certified under the Global Sustainable Tourism Council certification program.

MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have announced the signing of firm contracts for MSC Cruises’ third and fourth LNG-powered MSC World Class ships, to be delivered in 2025 and 2027.

MSC Cruises has unveiled a new brand campaign that is focused on the sea and the guest experience aboard its ships. Filmed on board MSC Bellissima while in the Mediterranean, “The Sea at its Most” campaign will be rolled out in 30 countries around the globe and celebrates the sea’s myriad of elements, existing both as a means of transport – taking guests to new places, new shores and new lands – and also a means of discovery – heightening and enriching the travel experience.

MSC Cruises has announced that guests sailing aboard MSC Lirica from its homeport of Dubai next year will receive complimentary tickets to Expo 2020 Dubai. With 25 million visits expected to Dubai next year, Expo 2020 is undoubtedly the largest event ever staged in the Arab World. ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ is the main theme of the event and the expression of how innovation and progress are achieved when people and ideas come together in unique ways.

MSC Cruises has broken ground on the construction of a new world-class cruise terminal in Durban, South Africa. The Durban Cruise Terminal is slated to be operational by January 2021.

MSC Cruises christened MSC Grandiosa, its newest, most environmentally advanced flagship, in the city of Hamburg, Germany on 9 November, during the fourth and final night of celebrations in the Blue Port. Marking the cruise line’s largest and longest christening event ever, the launch of MSC Grandiosa’s was part of a series of celebrations over 27 days, eight countries and 11 ports.

MSC Cruises has announced its commitment to become the world’s first fully carbon neutral major global cruise line. MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago says that ever since MSC launched its first commercial cruise ship in 2003, the company has been “one of the highest environmentally performing” operators on the seas.

MSC Cruises today took delivery of its newest flagship MSC Grandiosa, one of the most environmentally-advanced ships at sea yet, last Thursday in France. On the day, a second important milestone event took place with the traditional cutting of the first steel and naming of MSC’s first World Class ship, MSC Europa, by MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman, Pierfrancesco Vago. MSC Europa is the first of five liquified natural gas (LNG)-powered cruise ships on order and the first LNG ship to be built in France.

MSC Cruises has been awarded the 2019 ‘Greenest Shipowner of the Year’ Neptune Award at the Global Sustainable Shipping and Ports Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The award is given every year to a shipping company that has shown excellence in reducing the environmental impact of its fleet’s day-to-day operation and recognises the sustainability efforts of the recipient.

This November MSC Cruises will welcome its first guests onto its new private island destination located in The Bahamas, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. With endless sweeping vistas of crystal blue waters and over three kilometres of white sandy beaches, Ocean Cay is the ideal getaway for guests to discover nature’s pure, untouched beauty.