On 1 March 2010, a day after the UK showcase party of MSC Magnifica in Southampton (UK) and three days after the flag ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in Saint-Nazaire (France), MSC Cruises signed a letter of intent for the delivery of a new ship, MSC Favolosa. This new Fantasia Class ship will in June 2012 join the existing eleven vessels, which make up the MSC cruises’ fleet.

Pierfrancesco Vago, CEO of MSC Cruises stated: “We are immensely proud to announce the signature of a letter of intent for the building of a new ship, MSC Favolosa. At a time when many companies are cautious about investing, with this announcement MSC Cruises once again signals the record-breaking extent of its ambition.

“The new ship will bring our capacity to 1,400,000 passengers in 2013, confirming both the success of our strategy and our confidence in further growth. This letter of intent is also a demonstration of our faith in the STX Europe shipyard, which we are delighted to be able to support in these challenging times. We would like to thank all parties involved in making this initiative possible.”

Jacques Hardelay, General Manager of STX Europe commented: “This letter of intent demonstrates the excellent and exceptional collaboration between teams of STX at Saint- Nazaire and those of MSC Cruises. We look forward to implementing our expertise to again fulfill the promise of exceptional quality, deliverability, and design for MSC Cruises”.

Measuring 333.3m in length and 38m in beam, MSC Favolosa will have a total of 1751 cabins and will be able to travel at speeds of up 23.7 knots.

Thanks to award-winning naval architects De Jorio Design International the new addition to the Fantasia class, technically called V32, will herald a state-of-the-art concept in space management, which will include two additional lifts to improve passenger flow and a total redesign of decks and restaurants to offer guests on board unprecedented comfort and the highest space ratio per passenger. The MSC Yacht Club – the “ship within a ship” for those desiring special standards of discretion and privacy – will also be enlarged and redesigned, as well as the Aft Lounge, the adults-only area surrounding the Aft Infinity Pool, the casino and the disco. To achieve the highest standards of respect for the environment, substantial investments will include more efficient evaporators, chillers, a new generation of propulsion motors and an additional bow thruster to improve maneuverability.