MSC Preziosa is a owned and operated by MSC Cruises. She entered service in March 2013. She is an enhanced version of her first two class member ships, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia and identical to the previous MSC Divina. It debuted on March 13 as the 4th ship in Fantasia class. The MSC Preziosa was constructed from 2010 to 2013 at the STX shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, and was delivered in March 2013, being originally named MSC Preziosa while under construction. 3,502 passengers in 1,310 outside cabins and 327 inside cabins are accommodated with a crew complement of 1,370. 3,502 passengers and 1,370 crews. She is the 13th cruise ship of MSC Cruises and the fourth ship in her class, built after MSC Fantasia, MSC Splendida and MSC Divina.
History
MSC Preziosa construction began on 2010, and completed in March 2013. it is a 139,400 ton ship with a capacity of carrying 3,502 passengers. It set to sail on its maiden voyage from the western France port of Saint Nazaire. On June 4, 2010 a letter of intent was signed between STX France and Libyan state-owned company General National Maritime Transport Corporation, to build one cruise ship similar to Fantasia and Splendida. During construction, the Libyan civil war broke out on February 15, 2011. In June 2011, STX France canceled the contract, and began looking for a new buyer of the hull. On March 13, 2012, MSC announced it had reached an agreement to buy the ship for 550 million euros with specification to be identical to MSC Divina naming the vessel Preziosa. A year later, the Preziosa was delivered to MSC Cruises. She was christened by her godmother, Sophia Loren, also godmother of the vessel's sister ship MSC Divina. In March 2016, the company partners technogym for wellness program including in the Preziosa, where the passengers in the pool. at February 2017, it is the first ship to be retrofitting with exhaust gas cleaning systems, alongside with MSC Fantasia, and has received an EU marine equipment directive certificate from Bureau Veritas after passing the MARPOL test. In April 2019, the dining area of the ship has been enhanced, while in October 2019, De Jorio Designed with Italian interior designs on the ship. In February 2019, the ship was planned for deployment in United Kingdom in 2021 for refurbishment.
Specifications and Amenities
MSC Preziosa is long, the moulded breadth of the hull 37.92 meters and the draught at 8.45 meters. She accommodates up to 3,502 passengers with a crew complement of 1,325. She has 13 passenger decks, which contain 1,310 outside cabins and 327 inside cabins. Her speed is quoted at. The ship has 14 passenger decks and 1,751 staterooms. 80% of the rooms have an ocean view with 95% of the ocean view staterooms having a veranda. The cabins range from balcony cabins, ocean view cabins, inside cabins, and cabins for people with disabilities. All rooms are furnished with a double bed with easy conversion into two single beds. Standard amenities include interactive television, mini-bar, safe, and air conditioning. Public facilities include seven restaurants, 20 bars and lounges, four swimming pools, a bowling alley, and a gymnasium. A Spa is located on deck 14. The theatre accommodates 1,600 guests. The sports arena offers sports like basketball, volleyball, tennis, and a 235m jogging track. A Smurf-themed play area is located on deck 15 in a dedicated children's area.Preziosa and her identical sister ship Divina have more powerful and efficient electric propulsion motors, more efficient alternators and more advanced heating, ventilation & air conditioning controls, and chillers than her predecessors in the class. Rolls-Royce folding fin stabilizers are fitted to reduce roll while cruising. The ship's drivetrain is the more efficient diesel/electric, powered by five Wärtsilä diesel engines. The engines produce low NOx emissions, using low-sulphur fuel. The engines turn alternators producing electricity. Propulsion is by two GE Energy Power Conversion electric motors with each giving 21,850 kW at 138 rpm. Redundancy is provided, with the two fully independent electric motors each turning a fixed propeller on conventional propeller shafts. The two propellers are fully independent ensuring propulsion if one fails. The same approach was applied to the two fully independent steering systems. A further advantage of using electric motors to turn the propellers is in small sunshine ports. Each propeller is controlled individually, and quickly, for ease of ship maneuverability along with the four bow thrusters. The need for tugs while in the many ports of call is greatly reduced. Two of the five engines have 16 cylinders each with an output of 16,800 kW and the remaining three engines have 12 cylinders each producing 12,600 kW. Total power generated is 71,400 kW at 514 rpm. Incinerators are used for burning waste. The ashes are stored onboard and removed when in port. The waste heat from the incineration is reclaimed. Solid waste is not discharged into the sea. An advanced wastewater treatment plant treats all solid waste. The hull is treated with an anti-fouling coating system preventing hull fouling reducing drag and improving fuel consumption. Energy savings from innovative technology was introduced significantly reducing greenhouse gas production. Energy-saving LED lighting is used throughout the ship. In the cabins, an average energy saving of 25% is achieved. A simple system automatically switches all energy-using devices off in the cabins, such as the main light, bathroom light, socket-outlets, and hair dryers whenever the cabin is empty. A Cabin Monitoring System regulates air conditioning in all cabins allowing guests to set their own cabin temperature. Centralized air-conditioning control is replaced with local cabin control significantly reducing energy waste. The control extends to when the balcony door is open or the cabin card is not in place the cooling system is switched off. A seawater distillation plant produces all the freshwater needed onboard using two evaporators and two reverse osmosis plants. The ship does not pump onboard water from shore water stations. The highly efficient evaporators are completely pollution-free using a system of free heat recovery as the power source.
Destinations
The pre-inaugural voyage started from St. Nazaire and ended in Genoa. She called in Lisbon, Cadiz, Casablanca, Valencia, and Marseille, before arriving in the port of Genoa on Friday March 22. Between winter 2013 and spring 2014, MSC Preziosa was operating on South America cruises from Santos. It cancels their destination calls in March 2015 in Tunisa during the terorrist attack on the country. In April 2014, it navigates in the Canale della Giudecca, in Venice, Italy. Between March and October, MSC Preziosa was scheduled to operate on Mediterranean cruises from Genoa in September 2015. while in summer 2015, MSC Preziosa is calling Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, previously Tunis, Palma and Valencia. In spring 2017, MSC Preziosa was cruising around the British Isles, visiting Invergordon in the Cromarty Firth on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. It was the ship's first visit to Invergordon. In May 2018, it begins sailing in to Northern Europe with MSC Orchestra. In summer 2019, MSC Preziosa cruised the Arctic and north Atlantic oceans. The 12 day voyage started in Hamburg, calling various Norwegian ports including Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It started sailing on Trinidad at December 2018 for months during cruise season, In May 2019, the ship still continues to sail on Guadeloupe and Martinique. In January 2020, five thousand passengers arrive on Trinidad since the coronavirus pandemic has been discovered. MSC Cruises announced the suspension of all North American itineraries until June 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incidents
In March 2014, the police in Brazil has arrested a crew member on the cruise ship for smuggling cocaine. In January 2018, a 69-year-old Dutch passenger went missing after the ship's overboard detection failed, The passenger was not found despite the navy and helicopters searching for them. On 6 March 2019, three passengers has been hospitalised after a flight reserves for passengers on a MSC Preziosa from Barbados when passengers and crew members become ill, possibly chest infection, the Airbus A330 aircraft flight were carrying 448 passengers, and later experiencing emergency following its eight-hour flight.
Coronavirus pandemic
On 1 May 2020, CrewCenter reported that two crew members aboard MSC Preziosa had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The first positive result was announced to the crew on 30 April 2020, and the second on 1 May. The positive results came as a surprise for many of the crew, as no one had boarded the ship since 23 March 2020 and all crew members had been isolating themselves in guest cabins since 11 April, nearly three weeks prior. A small 25-cabin cruise yacht helped 19 crew members repatriate to Cuba.
