The ''Fantasia'' class is a class of

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

s, operated by

MSC Cruises MSC Cruises ( it, MSC Crociere) is an Italian global cruise line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1989 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping C ...

. At present, there are four active ''Fantasia''-class cruise ships, the lead vessel, , , and the , which were built by

STX Europe STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operated 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway, Romania and Vietnam. T ...

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

. ''MSC Divina'' and ''MSC Preziosa'' are modified ''Fantasia''-class ships. They have a and have expanded amenities compared to their earlier sister ships. The lead ship, ''MSC Fantasia'', was completed in December 2008 and is the namesake of the class. The second ship, ''MSC Splendida'', followed in March 2009. The third ship, ''MSC Divina'' entered service in May 2012 while the fourth and final ship, ''MSC Preziosa'' entered service in March 2013.

Overview

At the time of their construction the ''Fantasia'' class were the largest ships in the fleet of MSC Cruises, and were preceded by the much smaller ''Musica'' class, which are at 93,300 tons. The ships are designed to complement the previous ''Musica'' class. and have a spa facility, four swimming pools, a

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine, American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the Tejanos, ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others i ...

restaurant, a 1,700-seater showlounge, a

mini golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

course, a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

court. They also have 1,637 passenger cabins. and have 1,751 staterooms, 114 more than the previous ships. They also have two additional

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

s and their decks and restaurants are redesigned to allocate more space per passenger.

''Phoenicia''/''MSC Preziosa''

On June 4, 2010 a letter of intent was signed between STX France and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n state-owned company General National Maritime Transport Corporation (GNMTC), to build one cruise ship similar to ''MSC Fantasia'', and ''MSC Splendida''. Nominally named ''Phoenicia'' she was specified by

Hannibal Gaddafi Hannibal Muammar Gaddafi (; born 20 September 1976) is the fifth son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife, Safia Farkash. Biography Gaddafi was born in Tripoli in either 1975 or 1976. He started his maritime career by joi ...

, who had a 120-ton

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

integrated into the design. During construction, the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

broke out on 15 February 2011. In June 2011, STX France cancelled the contract, and began looking for a new buyer of the hull. It was announced on March 13, 2012, that MSC reached an agreement to buy the ship for 550 million euros, and be named ''MSC Preziosa''.

Ships

Data

* Gross tonnage: 138,000-139,000-GT * Length: 1,093 feet (333.30 meters) * Beam: 124.6 feet (37.89 meters) * Draught: 27.2 feet (8.29 meters) * Cost: $550 million

References

External links

MSC Fantasia cruise ship from MSC Cruises
{{MSC Ships MSC Fantasia-class Cruise Ship MSC Cruises