MSC Seashore

With a scheduled launch in 2021, MSC Seashore cruise ship is the first Seaside EVO-Class vessel - with sistership (yet unnamed) on order, with scheduled delivery in 2023.

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.

In 2015, MSC ordered four new ships - two from STX France (Meraviglia and Bellissima) and two from Fincantieri Italy (Seaside and Seaview), with optional three more vessels. The first two liners were delivered in 2017 - Meraviglia (May) and Seaside (November), Seaview in 2018 (June). Bellissima in 2019 (March).

The 5600-passenger Seaside EVO-Class ship design is an enlarged version of the Seaside-Class. Both classes were developed for year-round operations in warm climates. This explains signature features like large-sized outdoor areas, top-deck ropes course, 5-slide water park, 3 glass-floored catwalks, glass-walled (oceanview) elevators, wraparound Promenade Deck (at sea level) with shops, bars and restaurants (indoor-outdoor seating). Seaside-EVO ships have larger MSC Yacht Club (a suite complex), larger public areas, more outdoor whirlpools, more speciality restaurants with al fresco dining areas (on Promenade Deck 8), 200 more cabins (for 467 more passengers).

Among vessel's technological features are advanced water- and garbage treatment plants, latest-generation scrubbers (pollution control technology removing particulates some gases from ship's exhaust streams), optimized hull, anti-fouling paints (specialized underwater hull coating), advanced heat recovery system, LED lighting (throughout). The vessel is fully compliant with IMO's "Safe Return to Port" requirement (how long the cruise ship should remain safe for evacuation).

MSC Seashore is also one of the "smart" ships' series and part of the company's EUR 9 billion, 10-year investment plan that includes 11 newbuilds entering service in the period 2017-2027.

MSC Seashore is also fitted with new technologies specifically designed to improve passengers' onboard digital experience. MSC partnered with Samsung to support NFC (near-field communication) technology enabling passengers to use digital devices (smartphones, cruise card, bracelets) to geolocate themselves (and their relatives, kids, travel companions), to access their staterooms or make onboard payments. Interactive screens throughout the ship allow real-time booking (cruise and tours) and making reservations (dining, spa, beauty treatments). Beacon technology sends location-based, customized notifications to passengers' phones as they move around the ship. Beacons are triggered whenever a connected device moves into their vicinity.

Cruise itinerary program

MSC Seaview itinerary program is based on Western Mediterranean cruises (7 nights / 8 days roundtrips) leaving from homeports in Spain, Italy and France (Barcelona, Genoa, Marseille, Naples, Messina Sicily).

During winter months, the ship starts operations in South America on roundtrip cruises from Santos (Sao Paulo) Brazil. Ports of call are Ilhabela, Buzios, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador de Bahia. The ship offers repositioning cruises / Transatlantic crossings between South America and Europe (Mediterranean) in Spring and Fall.

Cabins

MSC Seaview has a total of 2070 staterooms in 34 categories. The largest aboard MSC Seaview is the Yacht Club Royal Suite (615 ft2). There are also 54 wheelchair-accessible cabins. Seaview's cabins and suites include 14 aft corner suites, suites with private outdoor hot tub, terraced balcony staterooms, which feature ocean views and overlook the promenade and cluster cabins, designed with families in mind.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

New and creative dining options are available onboard MSC Seaview. Expect the Fusion Restaurant with speciality dining and VIP Fine Dining Restaurant. The nine eateries onboard MSC Seaview feature cuisines from all around the world including the Pan-Asian restaurant via the partnership with acclaimed chef, Roy Yamaguchi, world-class international steak house and luxury seafood restaurant with chef’s table.

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

• Main restaurants (dining rooms) offer traditional Italian cuisine and wines. Dining rooms are open for Breakfast (7-9:30 am), Lunch (12-noon - 2 pm_ and Dinner with 2 fixed seatings (7 pm and 9:30 pm) with a 7-course dinner menu that also includes vegan and vegetarian meals.
• Lido Buffet Restaurant
• Seafood Restaurant
• Teppanyaki Restaurant
• Fusion Restaurant
• Steakhouse
• Sushi Bar
• VIP Restaurant

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

MSC Seashore was designed to "bring the sea closer to passengers". The concept focuses on outdoor spaces (public and also stateroom balconies), several al fresco dining options, 20 bars, 12 restaurants, outdoor spa and fitness (with advanced Kinesis Technogym equipment), exclusive MSC Yacht Club complex (with restaurant, bar lounge, solarium).

Signature activity areas include Adventure Trail outdoor playground (rope courses, bridges, crawl-through slides) and Zip-Line (length 130 m / 430 ft). The aqua park has 5 waterslides, interactive Slideboarding tube (combining video games, music, lights, 112-m water slide), Aquatube (innertube slide), 2x high-speed racing slides and 1x family flume-type slide. The waterpark also has 2 separate kids playgrounds (AquaPlay and AquaSpray).

Additional amenities include complimentary 24-hour room service and supervised youth program, shipwide WiFI Internet access, laundry. Follows the complete list of MSC Seashore lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens and adults.

• Art Gallery, Photo Gallery and Shop
• Atrium (served by Atrium Bar)
• Two Theaters (main show lounges)
• Shopping Arcade with duty-free shops (selling jewellery, fashion clothing and accessories, cosmetics, MSC-logoed merchandise), Boutique Monobrand, Galleria Shopping Area
• Piazza, Chocolate Factory
• Casino (served by Casino Bar)
• Champagne Bar
• 5D Cinema
• F1 car simulator
• 2x Bowling lanes (full-size alleys)
• 4x twisting waterslides
• longest zip line at sea (length 130 m / 426 ft)
• Bar Lounge
• Disco Nightclub and Bar
• Creperie and Ice Cream areas
• Spa Wellness (with pool), Solarium (sundeck), Thalasso Pool, Finnish Sauna
• Beauty Salong, Barber Shop
• Fitness, External Gym Area, Yoga Studios
• Comedy Club Bar
• Bistro
• MSC Yacht Club
• VIP Bar Lounge, Family Lounge
• 2 swimming pools, Spa Pool, Lido Pool, Raised Pool, Indoor Pool Bar
• Magrodome (retractable glass-roof covered sundeck)
• Aqua Park with slides, Kids Playground
• Power Walking/Jogging Track

During MSC Seaside delivery ceremony (November 29, 2017), MSC Cruises announced a ship order for two "Seaside EVO" ships from Fincantieri (contract value EUR 1,8 billion). The new ships are bigger (17,330 GT tons) and 16 m (52 ft) longer in comparison to the sisterships Seaview and Seaside. Deliveries were scheduled for 2021 May (Seashore) and 2023 February (TBN).

In early August 2018, MSC signed an agreement for EUR 1,5 billion (USD 1,74 billion) for both Seaside EVO shipbuilding projects. The financing was via a partnership with a syndicate of three lender banks (Unicredit, BNP Paribas, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti). Fully backing the credit line was the Italian export credit agency SACE SIMEST. With the addition of Seaside EVO ships, MSC had an unprecedented total investment of EUR 10,5 billion into 12 newbuilds with scheduled deliveries by 2027.

On November 26, 2018, was MSC Seashore's steel-cutting at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard. The ceremony was attended by Pierfrancesco Vago (MSC's Executive Chairman) and Giuseppe Bono (Fincantieri’s CEO).

The ship design features large play areas for children, Adventure Trail ropes course, an interactive aqua park with 5 waterslides, 3 glass-floored catwalks, Promenade Deck (at sea level) lined up with shops and restaurants (with both indoor-outdoor seating), glass-walled (sea-view) elevators, 

On June 22, 2015, was held the steel cutting ceremony at Fincantieri’s Monfalcodne shipyard (Trieste, Italy). On March 4, 2016, was held the keel-laying ceremony, during which a 550-ton keel block was laid to officially start the ship's construction. On April 21, 2016, at the shipyard was held the coin ceremony. During this traditional event, shipbuilders place special edition coins to bless the new vessel and to bring luck.

The vessel was floated out on November 26, 2016, and completed (delivered to MSC) on November 29, 2017. During the delivery ceremony, MSC announced the order of two "Seaside EVO" class ships from Fincantieri (contract value EUR 1,8 billion). The new ships are bigger (16 m longer, 17,330 GT tons heavier, capacity 467 more passengers) in comparison to the sisterships Seaview and Seaside. The EVO-class newbuilds deliveries were scheduled for 2021 (Seashore) and 2023 (TBN).

The company Shores Global LLC provided all the vessel's outdoor wicker furniture (on passenger cabin balconies and poolside). Over 3000 pieces (deckchairs and sun loungers) were produced and delivered at the Fincantieri shipyard in October 2017. The company is a major cruise ship furniture supplier, offering consulting (fabrics and materials) and as well as production process management.

Fun fact is that on November 30, 2017 (during ship's launch ceremony) the company Marlink (world's largest independent satellite Internet provider) provided over 0,5 gigabit per second throughput on its Sealink VSAT network. Seaside's record-breaking Internet throughput was enabled on Intelsat’s new EpicNG satellites. Marlink is MSC Cruises fleet provider of satellite Internet via optimized "cloud of bandwidth". As of 2017, Marlink had as part of its Sealink network 25 satellites and 32 overlapping beams.

Ship's official naming ceremony was held in Miami on December 21, 2017, and hosted by Mario Lopez. The event's headline entertainer was Ricky Martin (Puerto Rican singer) performing live some of his hit songs.  Another stage performer was Andrea Bocelli (Italian crossover tenor) accompanied by Haitian kids chorus. Among the VIP guests was Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins NFL player). In October 2017, MSC signed an exclusive partnership deal with Miami Dolphins, which allows MSC cruise ship passengers the exclusive Miami Dolphins experience at sea, as well as to meet team alumni on a sports-themed cruise on MSC Seaside in 2018.

Ship's godmother is Sophia Loren (Italian film actress), who names each new MSC cruise vessel since 2003.

MSC's Dolphins Fan Cruise

Itinerary March 17-24 (the 7-day Caribbean and Antilles roundtrip from Miami to Nassau Bahamas, St Thomas USVI and St Johns Antigua) was officially themed "Dolphins Fan Cruise". This special voyage was the result of the 3-year partnership between MSC and the NFL team. The sports-themed voyage will be hosted annually over the next 3 years (2017-2020). The 2018 voyage's prices started from USD 700 per person (balcony cabin rates based on double occupancy).

During these sports-theme cruises, passengers have the opportunities to interact in person with team alumni. The list of pre-scheduled onboard activities includes:

• Meet team's legends Joe Rose, Kim Bokamper, Nat Moore, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison, Terry Kirby.
• Take autographs from the alumni, and get a photo with the team's cheerleaders.
• Cheer alongside the team’s cheerleaders and hype up the crowd with the mascot TD (The Dolphin).
• Enjoy special performances by cheer squad and the mascot.
• Get to know former players during Q&A sessions.

On April 28, 2018, the ship hosted the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders for the team's annual calendar shoot. The cheerleaders' team hosted special onboard show programming.

• Via the company's "Save & Sail" summer promotion, potential MSC cruise customers had the chance to book a balcony stateroom on the "Cheerleaders voyage" starting at USD 650 pp. The off-promo prices started from USD 1098 pp (Inside Cabin rates with double occupancy).
• The Cheerleaders cruise itinerary (April 28 - May 5) was a 7-day roundtrip from Miami to St Maarten Island, Puerto Rico and Bahamas (Nassau).

Caribbean cruise itineraries 2017

MSC Seaside sails year-round cruises from USA Florida (home-port Miami) to the Caribbean, starting December 2017. In early 2015, MSC announced that the ship's year-round Miami-based operations would benefit from the newly expanded and dedicated to MSC cruise ships exclusively berth and cruise terminal at PortMiami.

• In mid-December 2015, MSC opened the Seaside ship for booking. The Inaugural cruise departed out of Miami on December 21, 2017. Bookings were opened first for MSC Voyager Club Members only (Dec 15 through 29), which also received their 5% booking discount (standard for all Voyagers Club members) plus (as a bonus) an all-Inclusive drink package. The MSC Classic beverage package is applicable to 1st and 2nd guest in the cabin and on 7-night or longer MSC Seaside cruises only.
• On Dec 29, 2015, bookings were opened to the general public. MSC Seaside deals also offered the Classic all-Inclusive drink package for all bookings made by Jan 31, 2016.
• Initial booking prices started from USD 590 pp (double occupancy inside cabin rates).

Homeport Miami departures are at 7 pm. Ports of call times are as follow:

• Nassau Bahamas (12 am - 8 pm)
• Ocean Cay Bahamas (9 am - 11:55 pm) - MSC Cruises private island
• Cozumel Mexico (10 am - 6 pm)
• Ocho Rios Jamaica (11 am - 5 pm)
• St Thomas USVI (8 am - 4 pm) - US Virgin Islands
• Grand Cayman (9 am - 4 pm)
• San Juan Puerto Rico (7 am - 2 pm)

Prices on 7-day Eastern Caribbean or 7-day Western Caribbean cruises out of Miami are similar and start from around $640 per person.

• The 7-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary visits Bahamas (Nassau), USVI (St Thomas, overnight stay), Puerto Rico (San Juan), Ocean Cay (Bahamas private island).
• The 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary visits Jamaica (Ocho Rios), Grand Cayman, Mexico (Cozumel), Ocean Cay (Bahamas private island).

Inaugural Cruise 2017

Next tables show the ship's Inaugural Cruise itineraries as ports of call, port times and sequences between ports.

(repositioning) 20 nights / 21 days inaugural Transatlantic cruise from Venice to Miami. Prices started from USD 2530 pp (double occupancy inside cabin). Initial booking prices started from USD 1730 pp (or USD 87 per day). Passengers in Aurea, Bella, Fantastica or Wellness cabin categories received a free beverage package, plus 30% laundry discount and 3 complimentary shore excursions.

7 nights / 8 days roundtrip Inaugural Caribbean And Antilles cruise from Miami. Prices started from USD 1130 pp (double occupancy inside cabin).

(back-to-back / B2B) 14 nights / 15 days roundtrip the Caribbean And Antilles B2B cruise from Miami. Prices started from USD 1920 pp (double occupancy inside cabin).

Godspeed to the new ship!