MSC Cruises is an Italian global cruise line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1989 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest privately held cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries as of 2017, MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group, with a 10.2% share of all passengers carried in 2021.
MSC Armonia is a Lirica-class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. Originally built in 2001 for the now defunct Festival Cruises as MS European Vision, she has operated for MSC since 2004. At 58,600 gross tons, she can accommodate 2,065 passengers in 783 cabins and 760 crew members.
MSC Opera is a cruise ship built in 2004, carrying 2,679 passengers in 1,071 cabins, and with a crew complement of approximately 728, currently operated by Swiss company MSC Cruises. She served as the flagship of the company until MSC Musica entered service in 2006.
Costa Crociere S.p.A., operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily caters to the Italian cruise market, but the company's 11 ships, which all sail under the Italian flag, provide itineraries sailing to countries globally.
Margaritaville at Sea Paradise is a cruise ship that is operating for Margaritaville at Sea. The ship left the Costa fleet in March 2018 after being sold to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and began sailing on April 13, 2018 as Grand Classica. From May 2022, the ship has bebn sailing as Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, after the cruise line announced a partnership with Margaritaville Resorts & Hotels.
Costa neoRomantica was a cruise ship completed for Costa Cruises in 1993 by Fincantieri in Italy as Costa Romantica, and a sister ship to Costa Classica. She was refurbished in 2003, renamed Costa neoRomantica in 2011, and from 2017 assigned to the Asian market. The ship was sold in 2020 to Celestyal Cruises as Celestyal Experience. She never operated for Celestyal and was sold again and renamed Antares Experience in September 2021, then beached for demolition at Gadani, Pakistan in December 2021.
STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.
MS Carnival Luminosa is a cruise ship that is operating for Carnival Cruise Line. Originally built as the Costa Luminosa, the ship entered service on 5 May 2009. Her design is a hybrid, using elements of Spirit-class and Vista-class cruise ships. A sister ship, Costa Deliziosa, was launched in February 2010 and is based on the same design. Costa Luminosa departed Civitavecchia, Italy on 3 June 2009, on her 13-night maiden voyage, with ports of call in Savona, St. Tropez, Barcelona, Lisbon, Le Havre and Amsterdam. On 14 June 2022, it was announced that Costa Luminosa would be transferred to the fleet of Carnival Cruise Line, receiving the name Carnival Luminosa. The transfer and refit for Carnival has since been completed. The ship has begun sailing for Carnival as of November 6th.
MSC Lirica is the lead ship in her class of cruise ship, owned and operated by MSC Cruises. She was the first newbuild cruise ship to enter service for MSC Cruises. She can accommodate 1,560 passengers in 780 cabins. Her crew complement is approximately 732. MSC Opera is an identical sister ship to the MSC Lirica. Her other sisters in the class, MSC Armonia and MSC Sinfonia are essentially the same, but have a smaller funnel and other modifications, such as the bow windows and changes to the interior.
MSC Sinfonia is a cruise ship owned and operated by the Italy-based MSC Cruises. She was built in 2002 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France for the now-defunct Festival Cruises as MS European Stars. She was the last ship built for Festival Cruises.
Festival Cruises was a Greece-based cruise line that operated between 1994 and 2004. It was founded in 1992 by the Greek entrepreneur George Poulides using second-hand ships. The company acquired three new-built ships between 1999 and 2002, but was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2004.
SS Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian ocean liner launched on 24 September 1961 for Lloyd Triestino's Genoa—Sydney service. Her sister ship was SS Galileo Galilei. Guglielmo Marconi left Genoa on her maiden voyage on November 18th 1963. In 1976, Guglielmo Marconi was transferred to the Naples-Brazil-River Plate service of Italian Line.
Costa Fascinosa is a Concordia-class cruise ship that was ordered in October 2007 for Costa Crociere. Based on the Concordia-class design, Costa Fascinosa was constructed by Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard in Venice. Part of a five-ship expansion of the Costa Crociere fleet, the vessel entered service on 6 May 2012. She was Costa Crociere's flagship until Costa Diadema entered service.
AIDAmira was a cruise ship recently in service with AIDA Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, until her sale in 2022 to Ambassador Cruise Line, who renamed her Ambition and intend to commence cruising in 2023. The ship was completed in France as Mistral in 1999 for Festival Cruises. Between 2005 and 2019 she sailed as Grand Mistral with Ibero Cruises and Costa neoRiviera with Costa Cruises.
Costa Diadema is a Dream-class cruise ship owned by Carnival Corporation and operated by Costa Crociere. The ship was ordered in October 2012 and was delivered to Costa on 25 October 2014. At her time of delivery, Costa Diadema was the largest vessel to fly an Italian flag and Costa's largest vessel to date; she is currently Costa Crociere's flagship.
The Celebration was a cruise ship originally built for Carnival Cruise Line. She was the last out of three ships to be built for Carnival's Holiday Class of cruise ships. She last sailed for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line between 2015 and 2020.
Carnival Panorama is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. After Carnival finalized the ship's order with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in December 2016, the vessel had her keel laid in January 2018 and she was formally delivered in October 2019 as the last Vista-class vessel and the flagship of the fleet; she has served in the latter role until the Mardi Gras debuted in 2021. Measuring 133,868 GT and 323 m long, she is the largest of Carnival's three Vista-class vessels. Since her debut in December 2019, she has been homeported at the Port of Long Beach and sails week-long itineraries to the Mexican Riviera.
Costa Venezia is a Vista-class cruise ship, most recently operated by Costa Crociere. Originally intended to serve the Chinese market, she debuted in Shanghai on May 18, 2019. At 135,225 gross tonnage (GT), with a capacity of 4,208 passengers, she was briefly the largest ship in the Costa Cruises fleet until the debut of Costa Smeralda in late 2019. Costa Venezia is scheduled to be transferred to Carnival in 2023 under the new Costa by Carnival concept. She is to be renamed Carnival Venezia.
MSC Virtuosa 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 second ship in the Meraviglia-Plus class and sister ship to MSC Grandiosa. Originally scheduled to debut on 8 November 2020, her delivery and entry into service was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was delivered to MSC Cruises on 1 February 2021 and entered service in May 2021.
