GENEVA — MSC Cruises’ MSC Grandiosa is now open for bookings. For its inaugural season, the first MSC Cruises Meraviglia-Plus generation ship will set sail in the Western Med.

Bookings open today for an initial two-week period exclusively for members of the MSC Voyagers Club — MSC Cruises’ guest loyalty rewards program — and bookings for all other guests will open on March 19, 2018.

When booking MSC Grandiosa over the initial, exclusive two-week booking period — in addition to benefitting from being able to have the first selection of staterooms — MSC Voyagers Club members will receive a special 5% early booking discount in addition to their current MSC Voyagers Club 5% loyalty discount.

All other guests will enjoy a 5% early booking discount until Sept. 4, 2018. MSC Grandiosa will set sail from Genoa on Nov.16, 2019.

“At launch, MSC Grandiosa will be the fifth brand-new MSC Cruises ship to have joined our fleet in only two and a half years,” said Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises. “She represents the further evolution of the already highly-successful Meraviglia prototype, first introduced only nine months ago. As such, she will also bring even more choices to MSC Cruises’ guests and other vacationers wanting to experience the ever-so-popular Mediterranean region on board one of the most highly-innovative MSC Cruises classes of ships that will welcome guests to the region in the Winter 2019/2020 season.”

The new ship will offer guests, among other features, two brand new shows from Cirque du Soleil at Sea, created exclusively for MSC Grandiosa guests. This is part of a long-term partnership between MSC Cruises and the world leader in artistic entertainment, Cirque du Soleil that will result in a total of eight original shows available on MSC Cruises’ four Meraviglia generation ships. MSC Grandiosa is the third ship to feature the exclusive entertainment concept. The four other Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows, two for each ship, have already been created for MSC Meraviglia and MSC Bellissima.

MSC Grandiosa will showcase an even larger Mediterranean-style promenade, the ground-breaking feature unique to the Meraviglia and Meraviglia-plus prototypes.

Serving as the social hub of the ship, the promenade features an array of shops and specialty restaurants as well as a new bar and lounge, L’Atelier Bistrot, which will offer lounge seating with a stage and a dance floor. Impressionist art will also be on display in this space and have terrace seating with Parisian Bistro tables and chairs along the promenade. Throughout the day and the evening, the promenade will host surprise performances, including flash mobs and themed parties as well as awe-inspiring projections on an even longer 323 ft. LED Sky screen.

The industry-leading shipboard digital innovation program, MSC for Me, will allow guests to customize their vacation and enhance their cruise experience. As the Company continues to evolve and innovate the digital offering, guests can expect new features, offering a connected cruise experience to meet their individual needs.

Additional MSC Grandiosa highlights include:

• Seven nights in the Western Mediterranean, calling at six Mediterranean ports including Genoa, Civitavecchia, Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona and Marseille.
• New family activities and entertainment. The DOREMI Lab will offer new themes each day, while the DOREMI Studio Lounge focuses on allowing children to have fun through music, with the possibility to record songs and star in their own music videos.
• A choice of at least 12 different dining venues on board — ranging from specialty restaurants to the buffet. In addition, a new restaurant concept, exclusively for MSC Aurea experience guests, will be introduced in the Promenade of the ship.
• The MSC Yacht Club, which will continue to offer the more discerning cruise guest a luxurious stay in the ship-within-a-ship concept with private areas and key features such as the Top Sail lounge, One Pool Deck, private restaurant and butler service.

“She will not only become the ‘richest in features’ in the MSC Cruises’ fleet to-date but also be fitted with ground-breaking environmental technology,” said Onorato. “She will, in fact, feature the latest and most advanced hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems, SCR-Catalysts, state-of-the-art waste management and recycling capabilities, emission-reducing energy and heat recovery systems, and highly advanced wastewater treatment. All of this in a ship that has been designed for all seasons and is able to call in most of the world’s international cruise ports.”