''MSC Meraviglia'' is a

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 ...

owned and operated by MSC Cruises, built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, by STX France. ''MSC Meraviglia'' is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of MSC's new "Vista Project" vessels, the ''Meraviglia'' class, with following in 2019. Each vessel has a passenger capacity of 4,500. When it entered service in June 2017, it was the sixth largest cruise ship in the world, behind Royal Caribbean's s and .

History

The ship initially operated in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

also cruised in Northern Europe as of summer 2019, but repositioned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for the first time, to New York and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, in fall 2019, to sail to the Caribbean as part of a North American expansion program by MSC.

Design and construction

The vessel's name was announced, and steel was cut, at a ceremony held at Chantiers de l'Atlantique on 20 April 2015. The ship was formally named on 3 June 2017 by her godmother, Italian actress Sophia Loren at a ceremony in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

, which also featured French actor Patrick Bruel, musical group Kids United, and comedian

Gad Elmaleh Gad Elmaleh ( ar, جاد المالح, Latn, ar, Gād el-Māleḥ; born 19 April 1971) is a Moroccan-Canadian stand-up comedian and actor who achieved fame in France, Morocco and the United States. He is best known in the French-speaking wor ...

. The building of ''MSC Meraviglia'' was shown in the second episode of the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...

series, '' Building Giants'', and titled "Monster Cruise Ship". The ship's facilities include a promenade with a long LED roof, a water park with water slides, a rope course and a theater. The ship also has over ten dining areas and a spa.

Incidents

COVID-19 pandemic

On 26 February, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to ha ...

, Mexican authorities granted permission for ''MSC Meraviglia'', registered in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, to dock in

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucat� ...

, Quintana Roo, because she carried a passenger presumed to be infected with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. The ship was previously denied access to ports in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and the Cayman Islands. Two cases of common seasonal flu were found. The

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

reported, as early as 22 April, that at least one person who tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

had tested positive within 14 days after disembarking.

References

External links

MSC Cruises official site
{{MSC Ships , state=collapsed 2016 ships Ships built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique Ships built in France Meraviglia