MSC Grandiosa to be largest cruise ship ever to homeport in Brazil

MSC Cruises is ramping up its commitment to developing cruise markets with the announcement that MSC Grandiosa will be deployed in Brazil.

The move comes just days after it announced a significant expansion of capacity in the South African market.

MSC Grandiosa, due for delivery in 2019, is the cruise line’s first Meraviglia-Plus class ship and with a passenger capacity of 4,888 and a gross tonnage of 181,000 will be the largest cruise ship ever to homeport in Brazil.

MSC Grandiosa will cruise roundtrip from Santos in São Paulo, Brazil on South American itineraries during the 2020/21 winter cruise season. The deployment strengthens MSC’s position as a market leader in the Brazilian market, where it already homeports MSC Fantasia, MSC Preziosa and MSC Sinfonia.

RELATED: Videos: Durban-bound MSC Orchestra collides with MSC Poesia in Buenos Aires

RELATED: MSC Cruises shows us what Bellissima’s 2019 cruise season in Dubai will look like

“The arrival of MSC Grandiosa reflects the importance of Brazil for the company,” says Adrian Ursilli, Managing Director in South America of MSC Cruises. The move boosts MSC’s Brazil capacity by 14 percent, and adds 35 percent more MSC Yacht Club capacity to the market.

Sales for the Brazil season aboard all four MSC Cruises ships will open September 25^th, according to the line.

MSC Grandiosa is due to be delivered to MSC Cruises from Chantiers de l’Atlantique on October 31^st. She recently completed her sea trials and is currently undergoing final fit out.

The ship is the first of a total of five Meraviglia-Plus cruise ships ordered by MSC Cruises, representing an investment in the fleet of more than 3.5-billion Euros (US $3.8 billion), which is itself part of a much larger US $12-billion fleet expansion that includes the World-class quartet of ships.

RELATED: MSC’s Zeo voice app and MSC for Me tech to be included aboard Grandiosa

RELATED: First Meraviglia-Plus ship MSC Grandiosa nears completion with float out

At 200,000-gross tons they will be the second-largest class of cruise ship in the world after Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class.

All seven cruise ships will be LNG-powered, with MSC Cruises having previously indicated that LNG-propulsion is likely to be the future focus of the cruise line’s environmental protection efforts.

“Our fifth Meraviglia class cruise ship will bring a new generation of environmental technology to the market, benefiting from a new generation of LNG-powered engines,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman, when the fifth Meraviglia-Plus order was placed.

“This will help us further reduce our environmental footprint and advance in our journey of constant improvement. She will be joined at sea by up to four World Class LNG-powered ships, as part of our overall commitment to environmental stewardship through this and other next-generation technologies and solutions deployed fleet-wide,” he added.