Sarah Bretz, ContributorMSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard celebrated milestones for three World-class ships in Saint-Nazaire, France today. The cruise line has taken delivery of MSC World America, celebrated the coin ceremony of MSC World Asia, and cut the first piece of steel for the newly-named MSC World Atlantic.
In attendance was Captain Gianluigi Aponte, Founder and Group Chairman of MSC; Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division; Chantiers de l’Atlantique General Manager, Laurent Castaing; and the French Minister for Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci. Representatives of MSC Cruises’ new build team and workers from the shipyard who built the ship over the last 30 months were also present.
MSC World America is the 23rd ship in MSC Cruises’ modern fleet, and is set to be officially named on April 9th at the line’s new state-of-the-art cruise terminal in Miami, Florida.
“Today is a proud moment for all of us at MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique as we mark these major milestones in the development of our fleet,” said Pierfrancesco Vago. “Our new flagship is a testament to our long-standing, innovative partnership spanning over 20 years, resulting in five groundbreaking prototypes and 19 ships.”
Laurent Castaing added, “It is with great emotion that we are marking today not one, but three MSC World Class ships. Continuous improvement of the onboard experience, ever more optimized energy performance—what a journey MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique teams have accomplished so far.”
The traditional coin ceremony for MSC World Asia also took place today, when commemorative coins were placed inside the ship as a sign of blessing during construction and to bring good fortune to the vessel. Two godmothers, Marialuisa Iaccarino, VP Shore Excursions for MSC Cruises and Flavie Biondo, Chargé d’affaires for Chantiers de l’Atlantique did the honors as part of this maritime tradition. MSC World Asia is scheduled to enter service in winter 2026-2027 with sailings in the Mediterranean to destinations in France, Italy, Spain and Malta.
MSC’s third celebration was a steel-cutting ceremony to start construction on the fourth World-class ship. The celebration was also a reveal of the vessel’s name: MSC World Atlantic. The ship is scheduled to enter service in 2027 and be deployed in the Caribbean from Port Canaveral for the winter 2027-2028 season.
The World-class prototype started with the introduction of MSC World Europa in 2022, and the platform continues to evolve with each new ship. The vessels are named after the world’s continents and oceans, and are not necessarily indicative of where they will be deployed.
MSC World America is scheduled to officially begin her inaugural season from Miami on April 12th. She will operate alternating seven-night eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, both of which include a stop to MSC’s private island in the Bahamas, Ocean Cay.
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