Italian line MSC Cruises now has 10 ships after taking delivery of MSC Splendida at a ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France.
The ship will be named in Barcelona on Sunday July 12 by serial MSC godmother Sophia Loren.
The vessel is a sister to MSC Fantasia, which was named in Naples last December, and holds 3,274 passengers, or 3,959 when all berths are taken.
At the moment Splendida is on a pre-christening cruise. It has visited Vigo, Lisbon, Malaga and is in Mallorca, in Palma, today, alongside MSC Fantasia, an event MSC has likened to a "phenomenon that can only be compared to an astronomical marvel". That's what I love about MSC. Never knowingly overstated.
If the captain recovers enough from this miracle to drive the ship, Splendida will be sailing to Marseille tonight, arriving in Barcelona on Saturday July 11, where it will be based for the rest of the summer.
Jane Archer
