MSC Seaside is a Seaside-classcruise ship currently owned and operated by MSC Cruises. As the lead vessel of the Seaside class, she lends her name to the company’s Seaside class. At 153,516 GT, she would become the largest cruise ship ever to be constructed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, and the 14th largest cruise ship in the world, behind Norwegian Epic, upon her delivery in December 2017.
MSC Seaside was delivered to MSC Cruises on 29 November 2017 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone. Her madrina, Asya Aponte, granddaughter of Gianluigi Aponte, MSC’s founder and chairman, performed the honors at the delivery ceremony when she cut the ribbon to let the bottle of champagne strike the hull. The ship then departed the shipyard for Trieste and officially entered service on 1 December 2017 upon leaving Trieste for her 22-night maiden voyage, a transatlantic to PortMiami for her christening. MSC Seaside was christened on 21 December 2017 by her godmother, Sophia Loren, at PortMiami’s Terminal B, making her the first MSC cruise ship to be christened in North America. The ceremony was hosted by Mario Lopez and featured performances by Andrea Bocelli and Ricky Martin. MSC Seaside departed for her 14-night inaugural cruise on 23 December 2017 from Miami, which visited Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel in Mexico.
The overall architecture of MSC Seaside is based on Fincantieri’s Project Mille, a prototype that had not been executed 12 years since its initial conceptualization. Project Mille‘s prototype featured the diesel generators at midship, a wider hull, a narrower superstructure, and a relocation of heavy-weight public areas to lower decks to lower the ship’s center of gravity. MSC Seaside‘s current design reflects these features, along with a midship engine room and funnels, a wider boardwalk promenade along both sides of the ship, and a wider aft promenade deck that houses a large pool complementing those located on the top decks. The aft promenade deck is positioned at the base of the narrow, tower-like structure that houses cabins in the ship’s aft. Other features and accommodations included on MSC Seaside are a water park custom-designed by WhiteWater West on the top deck, the MSC Yacht Club luxury area spanning five decks, which hosts passengers paying a premium for enhanced accommodations and amenities, three themed restaurants, a bowling alley, and a theater.
MSC Seaside has 18 decks and a length of 323 metres (1,060 ft), a draft of 8.8 metres (29 ft), a depth of 12.1 metres (40 ft), and a beam of 41 metres (135 ft). The maximum passenger capacity is 5,119, with a crew complement of 1,413. She is also powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four Wärtsilä engines driving GE Marine electrical equipment, equipped with exhaust scrubbers to contend with soot. Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a 20 megawatts (27,000 hp) electric motor; four forward and three aft 3.1 megawatts (4,200 hp) thrusters allow for close-quarters maneuvering. The system gives the vessel a service speed of 21.3 knots (39.4 km/h; 24.5 mph).
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