New cruise ships for 2013: MSC Cruises' MSC Preziosa
Five major cruise lines that market to North Americans are rolling out new ships this year. Here, Paste BN profiles one of the new offerings: MSC Cruises' MSC Preziosa. For information on the year's other new vessels, click HERE to return to the main page of Paste BN's Guide to the New Cruise Ships of 2013.
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MSC PREZIOSA
Line: MSC Cruises
Maiden voyage: March 24
Home ports: Genoa, Naples and Messina, Italy; Barcelona; Marseilles, France.
Size (in tons): 139,400
Passengers: 3,502
The buzz: Like three earlier vessels in MSC Cruises' Fantasia class, the MSC Preziosa will be a large, mass-market ship catering to an international clientele. It'll boast three main dining rooms, multiple bars and a wide variety of entertainment as well as a sprawling spa area.
Like the earlier Fantasia class ships, MSC Preziosa also will feature one of the line's signature MSC Yacht Clubs — an upscale "ship-within-a-ship" area that is exclusive to passengers staying in top cabins.
Elements that are new to the vessel will include a deck-top fun zone for kids that is chock-full of water-spraying features. The ship also will harbor a giant, 394-foot-long water slide — billed as the longest single-rider water slide at sea. In addition, it'll be the first MSC ship to get an adults-only, extra-charge sunning area called the Top 18 Exclusive Solarium (a concept also being added to the three other Fantasia Class ships by summer).
MSC Cruises also has signed an agreement with Eataly, a popular Italian restaurant chain, to bring the ship the first Eataly venues at sea. The MSC Preziosa will be home to an 80-seat Eataly Restaurant that will feature a minimalist space where passengers can "eat, buy and learn about the best Italian food" and a more exclusive, 24-seat Ristorante Italia that will offer upscale dining with an artisanal product-filled menu that changes nightly.
Itineraries: Seven-night Western Mediterranean sailings starting at $449 per person.
Information: 877-665-4655; msccruisesusa.com.
Read more on MSC Preziosa:
MSC Preziosa to have one of longest water slides at sea