The end of October saw three cruise ship deliveries to three major cruise brands as a trio of new megaships were handed over, resulting in 13,088 new berths.
The Carnival Panorama, Norwegian Encore and MSC Grandiosa were all delivered from their respective shipyards this week.
In 2020 the three ships will combine to carry 658,960 passengers, according to estimates in the Cruise Industry News Annual Report.
Carnival Panorama
The Panorama was handed to Carnival Cruise Line from Fincantieri, marking the last Vista-class ship for the Carnival brand at 4,000 guests.
The Panorama will launch year-round seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises from Long Beach Dec. 14. The week-long voyages include calls in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan.
Norwegian Encore
The Norwegian Encore followed a day later from Meyer Werft, the German yard’s 14th newbuild for Norwegian and the last in the Breakaway-plus class at 4,200 guests. On Nov. 2, the Encore will cross the Atlantic, arriving to Manhattan on Nov. 10.
She will then voyage to Miami for a series of events, concluding with the christening ceremony and celebration on Nov. 21, before sailing Caribbean itineraries for the winter 2019-2020 cruise season from Miami. Summer 2020 sees the ship based in Manhattan.
MSC Grandiosa
Finally, fast-expanding MSC Cruises took delivery of the MSC Grandiosa in France from Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
The Meraviglia-plus class vessel has capacity for 4,888 passengers. Marco Massa took command of the ship on Oct. 31, as the new MSC vessel is set to spend an inaugural season in the Western Mediterranean from her Genoa homeport sailing to Civitavecchia, Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona and Marseilles.
