MSC Grandios

MSC Grandiosa is a Meraviglia Plus-class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, she is the first of three Meraviglia Plus-class ships set to operate for the cruise line.[7] She commenced operations on 10 November 2019.[8] 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".[1] 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.[9] 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.[9][10] Her coin ceremony was performed in July 2018 and her float-out occurred six months later, on 5 January 2019.[3][11] She successfully completed her sea trials in September 2019.[12] MSC Grandiosa was delivered to MSC Cruises in a ceremony at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard on 31 October 2019.[13] Following her delivery, MSC Grandiosa sailed her first voyage from the shipyard to Hamburg for press events and her christening,[14] with calls in Rotterdam[15] and Le Havre.[16] On 9 November 2019, the ship was christened in a ceremony by her godmother, Sophia Loren, whilst being moored in the river Elbe.[4] The ship later returned to her dock at the Port of Hamburg before embarking on her inaugural cruise the following day, on 10 November 2019.[4] Her inaugural cruise set sail on 10 November 2019 from Hamburg to Genoa via Southampton, Barcelona, and Marseille, and was also hampered by a storm that forced the cancellation of Lisbon.[17][18]