MSC Virtuosa


MSC Virtuosa is a Meraviglia-Plus class cruise ship currently under construction for MSC Cruises at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. She will become the second Meraviglia Plus-class ship for the cruise line and will be the sister ship to MSC's current flagship, MSC Grandiosa. Originally scheduled to debut on 8 November 2020, her delivery is postponed to early-2021.

History

Construction

On 1 February 2016, MSC Cruises announced that they had converted their options for two new ships into firm orders, with the new vessels being a part of a sub-class that evolves from the cruise line's original Meraviglia-class platform, dubbed "Meraviglia Plus". Each new vessel was designed to be larger than their older Meraviglia-class sisters, at 181,000 GT, with a maximum passenger capacity of 6,334 guests.
On 14 June 2018, MSC Cruises celebrated the steel-cutting for the second Meraviglia Plus-class vessel and also announced her name as MSC Virtuosa at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard. Her coin ceremony was performed on 27 February 2019. She was floated out on 29 November 2019 and moved to a wet dock to complete construction.

Debut

MSC Virtuosa was originally scheduled to be delivered in October 2020 and sail her maiden voyage on 8 November 2020 from Genoa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, construction delays arose at the shipyard and have slowed the ship's construction progress.The delivery has been postponed to early-2021 to help Chantiers de l'Atlantique and MSC better prepare the ship for debut.

Operational career

MSC Virtuosa was scheduled to begin sailing weekly itineraries in the Western Mediterranean in fall 2020. However, due to the construction delays, MSC Grandiosa will replace all of the ship's scheduled itineraries through the winter 2020-2021 season. In spring 2021, she is scheduled to cruise in Northern Europe and the Baltic region, before re-positioning to Dubai in the fall, where she will be based throughout the winter, sailing 7-day itineraries in the Persian Gulf to the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

Design and engineering

Like MSC Grandiosa, MSC Virtuosa will be equipped with a selective catalytic reduction system that helps to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 percent, along with a closed-loop exhaust gas cleaning system that reduces ship sulfur emissions by 97 percent. She will also be capable of running on shorepower when docked at ports.