''MSC Grandiosa'' is a ''Meraviglia'' Plus-class

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 ...

owned and operated by MSC Cruises. Built by

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, she is the first of three ''Meraviglia'' Plus-class ships set to operate for the cruise line. She commenced operations on 10 November 2019.

History

Construction and debut

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 181,541 GT, with a maximum passenger capacity of 6,334 guests. On 15 November 2017, on the day of the ship's steel-cutting ceremony at the STX France shipyard, MSC Cruises announced that the name of the first ''Meraviglia'' Plus-class ship would be ''MSC Grandiosa.'' Her coin ceremony was performed in July 2018 and her float-out occurred six months later, on 5 January 2019. She successfully completed her sea trials in September 2019. ''MSC Grandiosa'' was delivered to MSC Cruises in a ceremony at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard on 31 October 2019. Following her delivery, ''MSC Grandiosa'' sailed her first voyage from the shipyard to Hamburg for press events and her christening, with calls in

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and

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. On 9 November 2019, the ship was christened in a ceremony by her godmother,

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

, whilst being moored in the river

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. The ship later returned to her dock at the

Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...

before embarking on her inaugural cruise the following day, on 10 November 2019. Her inaugural cruise set sail on 10 November 2019 from Hamburg to

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via

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, and

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, and was also hampered by a storm that forced the cancellation of

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Operational career

Beginning on 23 November 2019, ''MSC Grandiosa'' began sailing weekly

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itineraries for her inaugural season, calling in Genoa,

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Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, Barcelona, and Marseille. On 30 December 2019, at the

Port of Palermo Port of Palermo ( it, Porto di Palermo) is a port serving Palermo, Sicily, Italy. The port of Palermo is one of the major ports for passenger traffic in the Mediterranean. According to author Patrizia Fabbri the port has been "a constant drivin ...

, the ship struck the Vittorio Veneto pier with her stern on the port side when maneuvering to dock. Minor damage was reported on her stern and the pier, but no injuries were reported, and the ship left for Valletta later that day. ''MSC Grandiosa'' was originally expected to continue sailing in the Mediterranean until repositioning to Santos, Brazil in autumn 2020 to begin cruising in

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for the 2020–2021 season, which would have made her the largest passenger ship to ever homeport in South America. However, after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced MSC to reduce its operations and redeploy its fleet, ''MSC Grandiosa'' was ultimately scheduled to continue sailing Mediterranean cruises through 2021. On 16 August 2020, she also became MSC's first ship to resume operations amid the pandemic, and the first major cruise ship overall to restart operations in the Mediterranean since the cessation of cruises earlier in the year.

Design and specifications

''MSC Grandiosa'' measures and houses 2,421 passenger cabins for a total guest capacity of 6,334 passengers. The ship also employs 1,704 crew members. She has a length of , a beam of , a height of , and a maximum speed of . She is also MSC's first cruise ship to be equipped with a

selective catalytic reduction Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a means of converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen (), and water (). A reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia (), aqueous ammonia (), or a urea () s ...

system that helps to reduce the ship's

nitrogen oxide emissions In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropos ...

by 80 percent, along with a closed-loop exhaust gas cleaning system that reduces her sulfur emissions by 97 percent.

References

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