In anticipation of the new cruise ship’s official christening ceremony with Sophia Loren taking place on March 23, 2013, the MSC Preziosa from MSC Cruises was launched from the STX France shipyard just days ago. The launch occurred immediately after a traditional flag ceremony where the cruise line took official delivery of the 140,000-ton vessel. With the lowering of the French flag and shipyard pennant and the raising of the Italian and MSC Cruises flags, the 4,345-guest ship became the property of the cruise line and set sail on a 9-day pre-inaugural cruise.
MSC Cruises CEO Pierfrancesco Vago stated, “We are here today to celebrate MSC Preziosa, the 12th addition to MSC’s state-of-the-art fleet and our fourth Fantasia class ship, whose arrival means that MSC Cruises is now the world’s third biggest cruise line. Thanks to our longstanding and effective collaboration with the STX yard, we have been able to successfully fine-tune our product year upon year. With her unique features and outstanding favorites, such as the MSC Yacht Club, I believe MSC Preziosa now brings the MSC Mediterranean experience to perfection. MSC Preziosa completes our ambitious vision of building 10 new ships in just under 10 years.”
The MSC Preziosa is one of three new cruise ships launching this year. To learn more about the new ship, read our New Cruise Ships 2013 article published at the TravelChannel.com and visit the MSC Cruises website. Are you planning to sail onboard the new MSC Preziosa? Please feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below…
HEADER IMAGE SOURCE: MSC CRUISES