41 this message on a national scale with so many new offerings on the table builds on our previous efforts, which focused on Florida and New York.” While MSC Cruises will remain a global brand from a deployment and sourcing perspective, the USA will play a growing and significant role in the cruise operator’s business in the years to come. Beyond MSC World America, it will start its first sailings from Texas in November 2025, when it homeports MSC Seascape at the Port of Galveston. “There’s great interest in our offering there, as it represents a new audience for us,” explains Onorato. “The market is primarily a drive-market that will look more like the US-focused Port Canaveral than the more international mix we see in Miami and New York. We’ll have a second ship – MSC Grandiosa – based in Port Canaveral for the first time later this year. With two vessels, we can offer different cruise programmes: mini three- or four-night sailings, and seven-night voyages. Port Canaveral has also grown in importance for us, so we want to bring our next World-class ship – currently named World IV – there in winter 2027-2028.” MSC Cruises will also begin its first sailings in Alaska in summer 2026, sailing out of Seattle. “Alaska is our first opportunity to make a mark along the West Coast of North America and we are really looking forward to starting there with seven-night sailings between May and September 2026,” says Onorato. “Our guests will be able to enjoy the region’s beauty, breathtaking scenery and magnificent wildlife and experience the rich Alaska Native cultural heritage.” MSC Poesia is deployed for the season with calls at a wide variety of the region’s most picturesque destinations, including Ketchikan, Icy Strait Hoonah, Tracy Arm, Juneau in Alaska and Victoria in Canada’s British Columbia. It is a mid-sized ship, making it well-suited for exploring the narrow channels of the Inside Passage and glaciers up close. “This is a must-see region and, with Seattle as a homeport, the city has excellent international flight connections, making it easily accessible to guests from around the world as well as for those in North America,” says Onorato. “We know that our European guests in particular have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to sail to Alaska with us and we are extremely pleased with our forward bookings to date.” It’s an exciting time for MSC Cruises, but the company isn’t resting on its laurels just yet. Keen to invest in the future, it has long-reaching investment plans. “We will continue to build innovative vessels with advanced technology making them the most energy-efficient cruise ships ever to be built, including MSC World Asia in 2026 and a fourth ship in its class in 2027,” Onorato says. “And we will continue to invest in renewable fuels as this is the future of our industry, along with continuing to champion the need for shore power to become more accessible at more ports all around the world.” MSC Poesia is being deployed to explore Alaska in 2026 FEATURED INTERVIEW “ We will continue to build innovative vessels with advanced technology”
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