''MSC Virtuosa'' is a ''Meraviglia-''Plus-class

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

owned and operated by

MSC Cruises MSC Cruises () is a Swiss-Italian global cruise line based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1988 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the wor ...

. Built by

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

, France, she is the second ship in the ''Meraviglia-''Plus class and sister ship to ''

MSC Grandiosa ''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 ...

''. Originally scheduled to debut on 8 November 2020, her delivery and entry into service was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She was delivered to MSC Cruises on 1 February 2021 and entered service in May 2021.

History

Construction

On 2 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". Each new vessel was designed to be larger than their older ''Meraviglia''-class sisters, at 181,000 GT, with a maximum passenger capacity of 6,334 guests. On 14 June 2018, MSC Cruises celebrated the steel-cutting for the second ''Meraviglia'' Plus-class vessel and also announced her name as ''MSC Virtuosa'' at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard. Her coin ceremony was performed on 27 February 2019. She was floated out on 29 November 2019 and moved to a wet dock to complete construction.

Debut

''MSC Virtuosa'' was originally scheduled to be delivered in October 2020 and sail her maiden voyage on 8 November 2020 from

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Due to the

, construction delays arose at the shipyard and slowed the ship's construction progress. The delivery took place on 1 February 2021 with a traditional flag ceremony at the

shipyard. She entered service on 20 May 2021 sailing from

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Operational career

''MSC Virtuosa'' was scheduled to begin sailing weekly itineraries in the Western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in autumn 2020. However, due to the construction delays, ''MSC Grandiosa'' replaced all of the ship's scheduled itineraries through the winter 2020–2021 season. She entered service on 20 May 2021 with a series of three and four-night cruises from Southampton, before beginning seven-night cruises around the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

on 12 June with three embarkation ports in England and Scotland. These cruises sailed to ports such as

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and are exclusively for UK residents. She was originally scheduled to cruise in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

and the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

region for the spring 2021 season, however these cruises were operated by '' MSC Seaview'' instead. She re-positioned to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in autumn 2021, where she was based throughout the winter, sailing 7-day itineraries in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

to the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. In 2022, ''MSC Virtuosa'' returned back to Southampton for a summer season from May until November 2022. Whilst in Southampton she will perform 2–14 night cruises to regions including

Baltics The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

Norwegian Fjords This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords. Fjords See also

* List of ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. Southampton is her main embarkation port during the season, with additional embarkation ports of Malaga, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal. In August 2022, it was announced ''MSC Virtuosa'' will be based in Southampton year-round and into summer 2023.

Incidents

On 12 October 2024, a woman in her 20s died after going overboard from the ''MSC Virtuosa,'' which was sailing towards Southampton. An alert was sent out at 02:00 BST, for a search, north of

Les Casquets Les Casquets or (The) Casquets ( ) is a group of rocks northwest of Alderney in the Channel Islands; they are administered by the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The rocks are part of an underwater sandstone ridge. Other parts which emerge above the ...

rocks, west of

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

. French fire and rescue services winched the casualty with a helicopter crew, and the woman was later pronounced dead by doctors. An investigation of the death is ongoing with French police. On 3 May 2025, a 60-year old man died as a result of an altercation on board ''MSC Virtuosa'', which had departed Southampton at 18:00 BST for a two-night voyage to

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. British authorities were made aware of the man's death, at 20:30 BST, as the vessel was still in British waters at the time. On 5 May 2025 at 06:00 BST, when the vessel returned to Southampton, a 57-year old man was arrested by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary on suspicion of murder; he was later released on bail. On 11 May 2025, a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but was later released on bail.

Design and engineering

Like ''MSC Grandiosa'', ''MSC Virtuosa'' is equipped with a selective catalytic reduction system that helps to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 percent, along with a closed-loop exhaust gas cleaning system that reduces ship sulfur emissions by 97 percent. She is capable of running on

shorepower Shore power or shore supply is the provision of shoreside electrical power to a ship at berth while its main and auxiliary engines are shut down.

external Links

Chantiers de l'Atantique: MSC Virtuosa

MSC Cruises: MSC Virtuosa

References

{{Portal bar, Transport Virtuosa Ships built in France 2019 ships