MSC to name the MSC Bellissima in Southampton!

MSC Cruises has taken the cruising market by storm at the moment and everyone is taking MSC Cruises! They really have expanded so quickly, in fact it’s unbelievable.

With the MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seaside launching in 2017, and we see the MSC Seaview join the fleet later this year, and then MSC Bellissima next March, they also on top of this have two Meraviglia Plus Class Vessels, one aptly named MSC Grandiosa and the other yet unnamed but it doesn’t finish there, you then have the World Class ships and there could be as many as four sisters in this class of ship.

The UK Market has grown massively for MSC, from the days of the older and smaller MSC Opera being based from Southampton, last year MSC Magnifica had a small stint of cruises from the UK, this year they are back with a bigger and longer UK Season, and next year MSC Preziosa, one of the flag ship ships in the fleet will be based in the UK. Having been on a couple of MSC Ships, the newer bigger ships are by far the more superior option in my opinion, although you generally tend to find the more interesting itineraries on the smaller ships.

But I suppose the big news is that MSC Bellissima will be built by the STX Shipyard in France, she will leave there on the 1^st March and sail straight for Southampton! She will be in Southampton from the 1^st to the 3^rd of April, where a selection of MSC Members, trade partners and press will be invited on board, and the crème de la crème is that she will also be named in Southampton

MSC Bellissima will be the largest ship to have been named in Southampton and its going to be a huge affair, God Mother will most likely be Sophia Loren as she has named all of the ships in the MSC Fleet, but like the ships, the naming is set to be a flamboyant event and a big on for the diary.

This will be the first time since 2008 where MSC have christened a ship in the UK when the MSC Poesia was named in Dover.

After this she will head from Southampton to her home port in Genoa. MSC Bellissima is now on sail, so perhaps a little cruise from Southampton to the sun next March is on the cards? If so this is the only ship to do it on!