MSC Cruises () is a Swiss-Italian global cruise line based in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, with operations offices in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. It was founded in 1988 in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries , MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and

Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a cruise holding company based in Miami, Florida, United States and incorporated in Liberia. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corp ...

, with a 10% share of all passengers carried in 2025.

History

StarLauro Cruises

In 1988, Gianluigi Aponte, founder of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, decided to enter the cruise industry and purchased the ''

Achille Lauro Achille Lauro (; 16 June 1887 – 15 November 1982) was an Italian businessman and politician. He is widely considered one of the main precursors of modern populism in Italian politics. He was nicknamed by his supporters ''Il Comandante'' ("Th ...

'' from Flotta Lauro Line. He retained "Lauro" in the company name in honour of his mentor, naming the new cruise line StarLauro Cruises. The original Lauro Lines () was originally founded in Naples, Italy by

in the 1940s. In 1990, Mediterranean Shipping Co. purchased the ''

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

'' to sail for their StarLauro Cruises brand. The ship retained the original name she had used while sailing with

Matson Lines Matson, Inc., is an American shipping company, shipping and navigation services company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1882, Matson, Inc.'s subsidiary Matson Navigation Company provides ocean shipping services across the Pacific O ...

. Both the ''Monterey'' and ''Achille Lauro'' would sail under the StarLauro Cruises banner into the early 1990s. In November 1994, the ''Achille Lauro'' caught fire off the coast of Somalia while ''en route'' to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, with 979 passengers and crew aboard, two of whom died during the evacuation. StarLauro line went on to acquire the ''Enrico C'' from Costa Cruises, renaming the ship ''Symphony,'' and the former ''Cunard Princess'', renaming the ship '' Rhapsody'' to the fleet.

MSC Cruises

In 1995, StarLauro Cruises was rebranded as MSC Cruises, with the livery changed from the blue funnel star logo to a white funnel with the MSC logo. MS Melody

In 1997, MSC purchased the ''

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

'' from Premier Cruise Lines, and renamed the ship ''

Melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

''.

In the early 2000s, MSC initiated a rapid expansion program, and placed its first new build orders with

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...

shipyard, for 65,000-ton ships. Based on a similar design to the French yard's platform for Festival Cruises, the two-ship order started the aggressive expansion of the cruise line. The line's first new build, the '' MSC Lirica'', debuted in 2003. The ''Lirica'' also became the first MSC ship to be christened by

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

, a tradition that has continued for all but one of the company's new builds. The ''Lirica'' was followed by sister ship MSC ''Opera'' in 2004. In 2004, MSC Cruises acquired the fairly newly built '' European Vision'' and '' European Stars'' from the bankrupt Festival Cruises, renaming the ships and . In 2006, the first of the four Musica Class debuted, also built at STX France. The '' MSC Musica'' was followed by the , , and the final, slightly modified, in 2010. In 2015, MSC Cruises announced that the four ''Mistral'' class ships had undergone renovation under the Renaissance Programme. In July 2018, the company announced that it would build a second cruise terminal at

PortMiami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...

for its ''World''-class cruise ships as an expansion of its North American program. It was scheduled to be completed in October 2022. In October 2018, MSC announced an order for four luxury ships of 64,000 gross tons each. These ultra-luxury vessels were to be based on the cruise line's luxury concept, the MSC Yacht Club. In January 2019, MSC Cruises unveiled the world's first virtual personal cruise assistant — ZOE, an artificial intelligence device designed by

Harman International Harman International Industries, Inc., commonly known as Harman, is an American audio electronics company. Since 2017, the company has been operating as an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut ...

. It is currently featured on ''MSC Bellissima'' and ''MSC Grandiosa'', and will be featured on future new builds upon their delivery. In mid-2020, MSC Cruises suspended most (or all) of their operations for over six months during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 7 January 2021, MSC announced it would restart cruises with the '' MSC Grandiosa'' and '' MSC Magnifica'' in the Mediterranean. Passengers were initially limited to residents of the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

. In June 2021, MSC announced a new luxury subsidiary brand named Explora Journeys, with four vessels planned, beginning with the '' Explora I''. In March 2022, MSC Cruises signed a multi-year deal with

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

to become their official cruise partner. They were the title sponsor of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. In January 2023, MSC Cruises announced a new multi-year partnership agreement with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. The deal gets MSC promotion during Knicks home games, including LED signage, virtual-on-court signage, and the opportunity to serve as the presenting partner during in-game t-shirt tosses. In August 2024, ''Shipping Italy'' reported rumors that MSC was in talks with Meyer Turku to build a class of four ships with a gross tonnage of 270,000, which would make it bigger than any other cruise ship at the time. In April 2025, MSC Cruise Division inaugurated the new MSC Barcelona Cruse Terminal, the first fully owned MSC Cruse terminal the will serve MSC Cruises and MSC's Explora Journeys. In May 2025, MSC Cruise Division inaugurated the new MSC Miami Cruise Terminal, the world’s largest cruise terminal.

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve

In December 2015, MSC Cruises signed a 100-year lease for the private island of Ocean Cay in the Bahamas to develop the land for an exclusive island experience. The site had previously been used to mine white

Aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate (), the others being calcite and vaterite. It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation fr ...

sand for decades. After the original owners abandoned the 95 acre island, the land had to be restored to remove all of the old mining equipment, with MSC Cruises committing $200 million for the project, involving restoration and conversion of the island into a private resort. The restoration required the work of many scientists to bring the area back into a functioning marine habitat. Once the Bahamian government granted the site marine reserve status, the project was officially named the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and was set to open in mid-November 2019. However, weather delays pushed the date to 5 December 2019.

Fleet

Current fleet

Future ships

MSC is also in negotiations with Finnish, Italian and French yards for new builds.https://www.seereisenportal.de/news/kreuzfahrt-news-schifffahrtsnachrichten/msc-cruises-hebt-mit-der-naechsten-schiffsgeneration-die-standards-an/

Former fleet

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MSC Cruises Mediterranean Shipping Company Cruise lines Italian companies established in 1988 Transport companies established in 1988