MSC Seaside
{{short description|Cruise ship operating for MSC Cruises}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| infobox caption = MSC Seaside | display title = ital }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = MSC Seaside Leaving Port of Miami.jpg | Ship caption = MSC Seaside leaving PortMiami, April 2019 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Malta | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Malta|civil}} | Ship name = MSC Seaside | Ship owner = MSC Cruises | Ship operator = MSC Cruises | Ship registry = Valletta, {{flag|Malta|civil}} | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Fincantieri (Monfalcone, Italy) | Ship yard number = 6256https://www.fincantieri.com/globalassets/prodotti-servizi/navi-da-crociera/msc/scheda-msc-seaside-seaview.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} | Ship laid down = 4 March 2016 | Ship launched = 26 November 2016 | Ship original cost = {{ShipCost|ITA|700|m|year=2014|ref=}} | Ship sponsor = Sophia Loren | Ship christened = 21 December 2017 | Ship status = In service | Ship completed = 29 November 2017{{csr|register=RINA|id=9745366|shipname=MSC Seaside|access-date=2017-11-29}} | Ship in service = 2017–present | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = {{ubl|Call sign: 9HA4638 |{{IMO Number|9745366}} |{{MMSI Number|248392000}}}} | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Seaside-class cruise ship | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|323|m|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|41|m|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draft = {{convert|8.55|m|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = {{convert|12.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship decks = 18 | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = {{convert|62400|kW|abbr=on}} (Total power) | Ship propulsion = *{{nowrap|2 × {{convert|14400|kW|abbr=on}} Wärtsilä 12V46F}} | Ship speed = *{{convert|21.3|kn|mph}} (Service speed) | Ship capacity = *4,132 passengers (double occupancy) | Ship notes = }} |
MSC Seaside is a Seaside-class cruise 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.
On April 27th, 2023 the MSC Seaside scored a 67 out 100 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program, citing issues such as poorly cleaned dishware and flies.{{cite web
|url=https://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MjEyNjA0NTY%3d-a9ov%2by%2b%2f%2bqU%3d
|title=Inspection Detail Report
|publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|date=April 27, 2023
|access-date=May 26, 2023}} Prior to this score, the ship averaged a score of 93 across two inspections.{{cite web
|url=https://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionScoresAll.aspx?ColV=MTE0MjgwOTk%3d-VKKICfqYd3I%3d
|title=All Inspection Reports
|publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|access-date=May 26, 2023}}
In July 2023, the CDC updated the score to 92 after corrective actions were taken.
History
= Construction =
On 22 May 2014, MSC Cruises announced that they had ordered two new 154,000 GT cruise ships from Fincantieri.{{Cite web|url=https://www.marinelink.com/news/cruises-cruise-order369789|title=MSC Cruises Order Two 154,000 gt Cruise Ships|last=Backwell|first=George|date=2014-05-25|website=MarineLink}} The new order was based on the Seaside prototype, with each ship costing €700 million each.
On 17 March 2015, MSC Cruises announced that the new ship would be named MSC Seaside, lending her name to the class of the sister ships that would follow.{{Cite web|url=https://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/press_releases/2015-03-17-msc-cruises-seaside.asp|title=MSC Cruises announces first "Seaside" class ship to sail from PortMiami|date=2015-03-17|website=Miami-Dade County}} It was also announced that she would be sailing year-round from PortMiami to the Caribbean.
Construction officially began on MSC Seaside with the celebration of the first steel-cutting on 22 June 2015 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/msc-cruises-cuts-steel-new-ship-msc-seaside|title=MSC Cruises Cuts Steel On New Ship, MSC Seaside|date=2015-06-22|website=Travel Agent Central}} On 4 March 2016, her keel-laying was performed, in which the first 550-ton block of the ship was laid, marking the beginning of the hull's assembly.{{Cite web|url=https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-headlines/fincantieris-monfalcone-lays-msc-seaside-keel|title=Fincantieri's Monfalcone lays MSC Seaside keel|last=Kalosh|first=Anne|date=2016-03-04|website=Seatrade Cruise News}} Her coin ceremony was celebrated on 21 April 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/14590-coin-ceremony-for-msc-seaside-at-fincantieri.html|title=Coin Ceremony for MSC Seaside at Fincantieri|date=2016-04-21|website=Cruise Industry News}} The ship was floated out of the shipyard on 26 November 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/16047-msc-seaside-floated-out-at-fincantieri.html|title=MSC Seaside Floated Out at Fincantieri|date=26 November 2016|publisher=Cruise Industry News|access-date=5 December 2016}} She performed her first set of sea trials for 72 hours in late-August 2017 before finishing her final outfitting.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/17672-first-look-msc-seaside-sea-trials.html|title=First Look: MSC Seaside Sea Trials|date=2017-08-29|website=www.cruiseindustrynews.com|language=en-gb}}
= Debut =
MSC Seaside was delivered to MSC Cruises on 29 November 2017 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8240|title=MSC Cruises Takes Delivery of MSC Seaside, Announces 2 More Ships in New Class|date=2017-11-29|website=Cruise Critic}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mscpressarea.com/en_US/press-releases/1706|title=MSC SEASIDE PREPARES TO SET SAIL TO BECOME THE NEW STAR OF MIAMI|date=2017-12-01|website=MSC Cruises}}
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.{{Cite news | url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/MSC-Seaside-christened-in-all-star-affair | title=MSC Seaside christened in all-star affair | last=Stieghorst | first=Tom | date=December 21, 2017 | work=Travel Weekly}} 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.
= Operational career =
Between 2017 and 2020, MSC Seaside sailed week-long itineraries to the Caribbean from PortMiami year-round.{{Cite news|last=Tobin|first=Rebecca|date=October 8, 2019|title=MSC Cruises goes in big on the U.S. market|website=Travel Weekly|url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/MSC-Cruises-goes-in-big-on-the-US-market}}
On 17 November 2018, seven crew members were arrested at PortMiami after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 7 kilograms of cocaine and a total of $100,000 in their cabins and in their possession. According to officers, the crew members were recruited by a fellow crew member to smuggle cocaine from Jamaica to the United States.{{Cite web|last=Mngadi|first=Mxolisi|date=2018-12-10|title=Dodgy transactions lead to arrests of 4 SA women for cocaine smuggling in the US|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/dodgy-transactions-lead-to-arrests-of-4-sa-women-for-cocaine-smuggling-in-the-us-20181210|website=News24}}{{Cite web|last=Dolven|first=Taylor|date=2018-11-26|title=Seven cruise ship crew members tried to smuggle cocaine into PortMiami, feds say|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article222205370.html|website=Miami Herald}}
Beginning in fall 2020, MSC Seaside is scheduled to begin cruising three-to-seven-night cruises from Port Canaveral to the Caribbean.{{Cite news|date=22 June 2020|title=MSC Announces Winter Program; New Protocols Onboard|work=Cruise Industry News|url=https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23126-msc-announces-winter-program-new-protocols-onboard.html|access-date=22 June 2020}} In summer 2021, MSC Seaside will operate her first full season of Mediterranean voyages.{{Cite web|last=Sharpe|first=Olivia|date=8 June 2020|title=MSC Cruises extends halt of cruise operations but charges ahead with summer 2021|url=https://www.cruisetradenews.com/msc-cruises-extends-halt-of-cruise-operations-but-charges-ahead-with-summer-2021-programme/|access-date=12 June 2020|website=Cruise Trade News}}
Design and specifications
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.{{Cite news | url=https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/what-s-trending-in-future-cruise-ship-architecture.html | title=What's Trending in Future Cruise Ship Architecture?| last=Leppert | first=Jason | work=TravelPulse | date=April 5, 2017}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.cruiseind.com/msc-orders-fincantieris-project-mille-prototype/|title=MSC ORDERS FINCANTIERI'S PROJECT MILLE PROTOTYPE|date=2014-05-22|website=CruiseInd}}{{Cite web|last=Stieghorst|first=Tom|date=1 December 2017|title=MSC Seaside offers sights, experiences unlike any other|url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/MSC-Seaside-offers-sights-experiences-unlike-any-other|website=Travel Weekly}} Project Mille
MSC Seaside has 18 decks and a length of {{convert|323|m|ft}}, a draft of {{convert|8.8|m|ft}}, a depth of {{convert|12.1|m|ft}}, and a beam of {{convert|41|m|ft}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.motorship.com/news101/ships-and-shipyards/evolution-in-cruise-ship-design-from-italy|title=Evolution in cruise ship design from Italy|date=14 May 2018|publisher=The Motorship|access-date=27 May 2018}} 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 {{convert|20|MW|hp}} electric motor; four forward and three aft {{convert|3.1|MW|hp}} thrusters allow for close-quarters maneuvering. The system gives the vessel a service speed of {{convert|21.3|kn|km/h mph}}.
File:MSC_Seaside_02.jpg|View of the stern, showing narrower superstructure, aft promenade deck, and aft cabin tower
File:MSC Seaside - 48073098833.jpg|View of starboard side balconies and promenade deck below
File:MSC Seaside Atrium.jpg|Midship atrium
File:MSC Seaside - 48073097358.jpg|"Top Sail Lounge" for Yacht Club guests
File:MSC Seaside Water Park.jpg|Water park
File:MSC Seaside docked at Ocean Cay.jpg|MSC Seaside docked at Ocean Cay
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|IMO 9745366}}
- {{official|https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/Cruise-Ships/MSC-Seaside.aspx}}
- [https://tubitv.com/movies/638825/the-secret-life-of-the-cruise Documentary on the ship The Secret Life of the Cruise (Video)]
{{List of ships built by Fincantieri}}
{{MSC Ships|state=collapsed}}