MSC Fantasia

MSC Fantasia is a Fantasia-class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. She entered service in December 2008.

MSC Fantasia preparing to enter Civitavecchia
History
Name: MSC Fantasia
Owner: MSC Cruises
Operator: MSC Cruises
Port of registry:  Panama[1][2]
Ordered: June 1, 2005[3]
Builder: STX Europe, St. Nazaire, France[4]
Cost: $550 million[2]
Yard number: A33[3]
Laid down: April 11, 2007
Launched: February 8, 2008[3]
Christened: December 18, 2008 by Sophia Loren in Naples[5][6]
Completed: December 9, 2008[7]
Acquired: December 10, 2008[1]
Maiden voyage: December 20, 2008
In service: December 18, 2008[1][2]
Identification: IMO number: 9359791
Call Sign: 3ETR7[7]
MMSI number: 370648000[7]
Status: In service[7]
General characteristics [7]
Class and type: Fantasia-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 137,936 GT
107,916 NT
15,000 DWT[7]
Length: 333.33 m (1,093 ft 7 in)
Beam: 37.92 m (124 ft 5 in)
Draft: 8.65 m (28 ft 5 in)
Decks: 13 passenger decks,[2] 18 total
Propulsion: Diesel-electric
Two Converteam propulsion motors (2 × 20,200 kW) Fixed pitch propellers
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) (cruising)[4]
22.7 knots (42.0 km/h; 26.1 mph) (maximum)
Capacity: 3,274 (double occupancy) 3,959 (max) passengers[2]
Crew: 1,313[2]

History

MSC Fantasia gives her name to the Fantasia class ships. MSC Fantasia was the first of a new generation of larger ships to join the fleet. She was the largest ship operated by MSC Cruises, along with her sister ship MSC Splendida,[1] until the launch of MSC Divina in 2012 and subsequent larger vessels in the fleet.

MSC Fantasia was also the first ship to feature MSC Cruises' Yacht Club concept, a special VIP space dedicated to passengers paying a premium for cabins within the Yacht Club category.[8]

Planning and construction

On November 16, 2005, MSC Cruises finalized a $1.2 billion two-ship order with STX France for what would be the largest ships in the fleet at the time of their delivery. The vessels were planned to be at 135,500 GT each, with a maximum guest capacity of 3,887 passengers, accompanied by 1,300 crew.

The ship, known as A33, began construction with a steel-cutting ceremony at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire on September 9, 2006.[9] Her keel-laying ceremony was celebrated on April 11, 2007, where a gold coin earned by Rafaela Aponte in a piano-playing contest was welded to the keel.[9][10] She was floated out from the shipyard on February 8, 2008.[11] The ship left to perform its sea trials for 48 hours in the Bay of Biscay on October 24, 2008 and returned on October 27, 2008.[12]

Delivery and christening

She left the shipyard for the last time on December 10, 2008 and was officially delivered to MSC Cruises thereafter.[13] From France, the ship sailed its first voyage headed for Naples for its christening via Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, and Marseille.[13]

She was officially named on December 18, 2008 in Naples by her godmother, Sophia Loren.[5][6]

Service history

Routes

Following its christening, MSC Fantasia spent her inaugural season cruising from Genoa. Her inaugural cruise departed on 20 December 2008 for the Eastern Mediterranean, calling in Rhodes, Alexandria, Messina, and Naples.[14] It then cruised round-trip Canary Islands and Western Mediterranean itineraries.[14]

Other than Europe, MSC Fantasia has also cruised the Caribbean in the past from Guadeloupe and Martinique during the winter months.[15] As of fall 2019, MSC Fantasia cruises in South America before returning to Europe in the summer. She continues this rotation into the 2020-2021 cruising season.[16]

Incidents and accidents

On March 5, 2009, high winds snapped the forward mooring lines of MSC Fantasia while she was docked in Spain. The bow drifted away from the dock side and caused a passenger gangway to collapse into the water. One passenger and three crew members had to be rescued from the sea. One passenger was taken to hospital with head injuries, while the other three were treated for hypothermia.[17][18]

References

Notes
  1. "MSC Cruises takes delivery of MSC Fantasia". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  2. Ward, Douglas (2009). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (18th ed.). Singapore: Berlitz. p. 439. ISBN 978-981-268-564-3.
  3. "Data from XVAS". Vessel Assessment System. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  4. "MSC Fantasia". ShipParade. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  5. Garrison, Linda (2008-12-29). "MSC Fantasia Named in Naples". About.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  6. "MSC Cruises launches Fantasia". travelbite.co.uk. 2008-12-19. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  7. "MSC Fantasia (9359791)". Veristar Info. Bureau Veritas. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  8. Higgins, Michelle (2007-11-11). "Paying a Premium Not to Mingle at Sea". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  9. Saunders, Aaron (2013). Giants of the Seas: The Ships that Transformed Modern Cruising. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978 1 84832 172 4.
  10. "MSC Cruises put their coins where their mouth is". Times of Malta. 13 April 2007.
  11. Staff, C. I. N. (2008-02-14). "Float Out for MSC Fantasia". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  12. Staff, C. I. N. (2008-10-27). "MSC Fantasia's Sea Trials". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  13. Staff, C. I. N. (2008-12-11). "MSC Fantasia's Hand-over Ceremony". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  14. Staff, C. I. N. (2008-06-19). "MSC Cruises' 2009 Europe Sailings Now Available". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  15. McCarthy, Daniel (2017-09-26). "Post Hurricanes, MSC Cruises Updates Caribbean Sailings". Travel Market Report.
  16. Mathisen, Monty (2019-09-10). "MSC Grandiosa to South America for 2020-2021". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  17. "Cruise ship gangway collapses in high winds". thinkSPAIN. 2009-03-05. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  18. "MSC Fantasia Passenger Dramatic Rescue". sky.com. 2009-03-06. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2009-07-14.

Bibliography
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