MSC Grandiosa

Launched in 2019, MSC Grandiosa cruise ship is MSC's first Meraviglia Plus-class vessel - with sistership MSC Virtuosa (2021). Meraviglia-Plus vessels are an upgraded (enlarged design) version of the previous Meraviglia-Class boats MSC Meraviglia (2017) and MSC Bellissima (2019).

History - construction and ownership

MSC Cruises (MSC Crociere) is a passenger shipping company headquartered in Genoa and Naples. It was established in 1960. Today, MSC Crociere is a subsidiary of MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) - world's 2nd largest containership company. MSC Crociere is the world's largest privately-owned cruise company. By annual passenger shipping volumes, MSC is ranked world's 4th largest cruise company (after Carnival Corporation, RCCL-Royal Caribbean and NCL-Norwegian) with over 5% global market share.

Cruise itinerary program

MSC Grandiosa itinerary program Is based on 7-day Western Mediterranean cruises (winter 2019-2020 season). Bookings were opened on March 5, 2018.

Cabins

MSC Grandiosa is able to accommodate a total of 6334 passengers. 75% of all staterooms feature private balconies. The largest aboard MSC Grandiosa is the Yacht Club Royal Suite (700 ft2). There are also wheelchair-accessible cabins.

MSC Grandiosa deck plans feature “cluster cabins” (up to 3 connecting staterooms for families) allowing up to three rooms to be interlinked for max capacity 10 guests. 

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

The ship offers 12 new and creative dining options onboard. Among those are the Mediterranean Village (speciality restaurant) and the exclusive Yacht Club Fine Dining Restaurant. The buffet is open 20 hours per day for international cuisine, Mediterranean specialities, itinerary-based themed food (with locally sourced produce), healthy and dietary dishes. Fine dining options include Kaito Sushi Bar, Kaito Teppanyaki Restaurant and American-style steakhouse featuring speciality meats from all around the world.

Follows the complete list of MSC Grandiosa restaurants and food bars.

• Main restaurant (dining room; offers different Italian traditional meals and wines; open for Breakfast 7:00-9:30 a.m., Lunch 12:00-2:00 p.m., and Dinner with 2 fixed seatings at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m.; with 7-course dinner menu; also features vegan and vegetarian meals)
• "HOLA! Tapas" bar by Michelin-starred chef Ramon Freixas replaces Eataly Restaurant (Eataly Food Chain designed food store and speciality restaurant)
• La Piazzetta Restaurant (self-service buffet and pizzeria; offers Afternoon tea and occasional midnight buffet; includes Onboard Pizzeria and steaks and seafood speciality restaurant)
• Butcher's Cut (American steakhouse)
• chocolate "atelier" and creperie by renowned pastry chef Jean Philippe Maury
• buffet restaurant (open 20 hours a day)
• Kaito Sushi and Kaito Teppanyaki;

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

The Meraviglia Plus class ships feature new original shows. A total of eight shows are available on MSC Meraviglia and Meraviglia-plus ships. Each of the 4 ships sails with 2 new contrasting shows, with the first 2 debuted onboard MSC Meraviglia in June 2017.

MSC Grandiosa has a large water park connected to an indoor amusement park on two levels and to 2-deck entertainment space (interior promenade) housing specialty restaurants, bars, duty-free shops. The Promenade is covered by a LED dome ceiling (called “digital sky”) displaying visual shows.

Grandiosa also boasts cutting-edge wristband technology to make payments, book specialty restaurants and spa treatments, and allow parents to geo-locate their kids.

Follows the complete list of MSC Grandiosa lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens and adults.

• Grandiosa Atrium (multi-deck high midship area with live entertainment)
• Cyber Library (Internet computers room and library)
• Cybercafe (Internet computers room)
• 985-seat Broadway Theatre (features grand-style show productions and classical concerts, with 2 shows per night - at 8 pm and 10:15 pm)
• (new) L’Atelier Bistrot - bar lounge with stage and large dancefloor
• 12 weekly Cirque du Soleil shows in Carousel Lounge, accommodating 120 passengers for dinner, plus additional 290 seated guests for drinks. The acrobatic show productions (VIAGGIO, SONOR, COSMOS, EXENTRICKS) each span 40 minutes. Carousel Lounge is fitted with 80x kinetic LED lights providing video and sound effects at specific moments during the show.
• Pre-Dinner and Cocktail Bar; Cocktail Bar; Italian Coffee Bar
• Chocolata; Ice-Creams
• Boutique and Accessories Shop; Jewelry Shop; Duty-Free Shop; Perfumery; Temporary Shop; Fashion Shop; Logo Shop; Fashion and Jewelry Shop; Photo Gallery and Shop
• Casino
• Aft Lounge and Bar
• The ceiling covering the indoor promenade area is a 480 m2 LED screen - a digital sky transmitting live views (sunsets, sunrises, starry sky), also special events and shows.
• Solarium (adults-only relaxation area with Solarium Pool and Bar)
• Main Pool area (swimming pools, whirlpools, loungers) - 4 swimming pools (including a 25-m long Atmosphere swimming pool - by night illuminated with special lighting, 10-m indoor Bamboo swimming pool, Horizon swimming pool (aft-locate, transformed nightly into a dancing lounge)
• sports and kids facilities, MSC Yacht Club Suites
• Yacht Club Lounge and Bar
• 1,100-m2 Balinese spa; Solarium (adults-only relaxation area upper level)
• Gymnasium; Arcade Games; TV Games; Bowling
• 4D Cinema; Flight Simulator
• Sportplex is the ship's combined entertainment-sports complex with Team Sport Arena (for playing basketball, football, volleyball), a separate Tennis Court and Sports Bar. In the evenings, Sportplex transforms into a party/disco club.
• Yacht Club exclusive Restaurant
• Sliding Roof (over the Solarium pool area)
• Piano Lounge and Bar
• Doremi Lab; Team Sport Area
• Baby’s Club and Kids Club - LEGO Group and Chicco facilities; Junior Club; Young Club; Teen’s Area
• Cinema, Theatre Doremi, Night Club, Studio
• Sun Deck (outdoor area with a swimming pool)
• MSC Yacht Club Open Area (the fleet's largest), Pool and Bar
• 2 Whirlpools; 2 Solariums; Aquapark featuring Champagne Bowl high-speed water slide and Himalayan Bridge, that spans the width of ship's deck
• 2-deck Super Amusement Park
• Power Walking/Jogging Track

Traditionally for MSC ships, Grandiosa has two F1 Simulators (Formula 1 VR racing cars).

"MSC Grandiosa" as ship name was filed for a trademark on September 13, 2016 (serial number 79197602) and trademarked on September 12, 2017 (registration number 5283204). On November 15, 2017, at the STX France shipyard in St Nazaire was held the MSC Bellissima ship's keel-laying (coin) ceremony and MSC Grandiosa ship's steel-cutting ceremony. The vessel's delivery dates were scheduled, respectively, for March 2019 and November 2019. As of 2017, MSC Cruises had a total of 4 ships under construction and a total of 11 vessels planned for launches in 2017-2020 as part of the company's EUR 9 billion fleet expansion program.

Bookings on MSC Grandiosa cruises were opened on March 5, 2018 (for MSC Voyagers Club/loyalty program members) and on March 19 (for general customers). Sales for the inaugural cruise (November 10, 2019, from Hamburg) were opened on October 7, 2018. The promo offer was for MSC Voyagers Club members only (exclusive access through October 21 midnight), who also received a special discount (5%) in addition to their regular 5% loyalty discount.

Vessel's launch (float-out from drydock) was on January 5, 2019. The 3-day sea trials in the Atlantic Ocean were successfully completed in August 28-31. Ship's christening ceremony was initially scheduled for November 2, then rescheduled for November 9th (2019).

Following shipyard's official delivery to the shipowner (October 31, 2019), ship's Captain is Marco Massa - with MSC since 1995. The first MSC liners in his career were Symphony, Rhapsody, Melody, Lirica, Opera, Sinfonia, Musica, Orchestra, Poesia, Fantasia, Splendida, Magnifica, Divina, also the 2008-built containership MSC Monterey (IMO 9349796, max capacity 4860 TEU-containers). For the first time, he was appointed Captain (Master) of MSC Musica (2012). Before Grandiosa, he also commanded the MSC ships Seaview (2018), Magnifica (during MSC's first World Cruise 2019) and Seaside (2019).

Grandiosa's other chief officers are Antonio Laccarino (Chief Engineer, with MSC Shipping since 1995, with MSC Cruises since 2000) and Giuseppe Maresca (Hotel Director, with MSC Cruises since 2000 / on MSC Melody).

Ship's christening ceremony was on November 9 (2019) and held in Port Hamburg (Germany) where the vessel was docked between November 6-10. For the naming ceremony, Hamburg Haven's Blue Port was transformed into a stage around the Elbphilharmonie (2 concert halls). 20 in-harbor locations generated light art (designed by Michael Batz) with blue lights and graphic drawings. The ceremony was attended by 14,000+ travel agents and VIP guests, and led by the MSC's traditional godmother Sophia Loren - 1934-born (as Sofia Villani Scicolone) Italian actress and singer.

Meraviglia Plus-Class ship technology

On February 1, 2016, MSC announced a shiporder for two new-class mega-liners. The newbuilds (Meraviglia Plus-class) have max capacity 6300 passengers, 200 additional cabins and are longer (16 m / 50 ft) compared to Meraviglia-Class. Meraviglia-Plus ships were scheduled for deliveries in November 2019 (Grandiosa) and April 2020 (Virtuosa).

New features on Meraviglia-Plus ships include the first at sea fine-art museum (with original artworks), longer (111 m / 36 ft) indoor promenade (Galleria) and larger LED screen (95x6 m / 280x20 ft) for pool deck's outdoor theater. The extra space in the Galleria allows two additional restaurants. MSC signed an exclusive partnership with Samsung (providing the digital technology) and Cirque du Soleil (providing live shipboard programming).

Meraviglia Plus-class ships are also fleet's most technologically-advanced, implementing latest marine engine technologies. Their machinery includes hybrid scrubbers (exhaust gas cleaning systems), SCR (selective catalytic reduction system converting NOx into diatomic nitrogen), most efficient waste plant, latest wastewater treatment system, superior recycling capabilities, emission-reducing, and fuel-efficient heat recovery system.

MSC's ZOE

On February 1, 2019, MSC officially revealed the in-cabin digital assistant ZOE. The technology ("cruise industry first") was developed by Harman International (US-based company, a fully-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics). Harman International has developed digital audio solutions for major corporations (Including Google, Microsoft, Amazon).

• ZOE is an artificial intelligence device (voice-enabled, with advanced voice recognition software) available in all passenger staterooms.
• ZOE speaks 7 languages, answer cruise-related questions, provides info on shipboard services-activities-facilities, makes reservations and bookings.
• The digital device features far-field microphones, top-quality speaker, quad-core processor (for fast response times), direct phone connection (through Bluetooth). The system can also upgrade its own database to answer previously unanswerable questions.
• Passenger data (including itinerary/tour and shipboard preferences) is stored in the Cloud Storage system and used on the next scheduled voyage.
• The device (sized ~15 cm) can be activated whenever passengers choose. A waiver must be signed to agree for their personal data to be stored.

Starting with Bellissima (2019), ZOE is now available on all newbuild MSC liners and introduced fleetwide over 2019-2024.

Inaugural cruise itineraries 2019

Ship's maiden voyage is from Genoa (departing November 16, 2019) and visits Civitavecchia (Rome), Palermo (Sicily), Valletta (Malta), Barcelona (Spain) and Marseille (France).

Next tables show ship's Inaugural cruise itineraries with call ports times. Prices (USD, based on double occupancy Inside Cabin rates) started from USD 1040 pp.

7-day "Inaugural Cruise" - homeport Genoa roundtrip

7-day homeport Rome roundtrip

7-day homeport Palermo roundtrip

7-day homeport Barcelona roundtrip

7-day homeport Marseille roundtrip

Godspeed to the new ship!