In a time-honored maritime tradition, a ceremony was held this morning at the STX Europe shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, during which two commemorative coins were welded to the ship’s keel to mark a significant construction milestone.

Opening the ceremony was MSC Cruises CEO, Pierfrancesco Vago, who stated: “Today I am happy to celebrate the first major step in the construction of our new ship, the third in the Fantasia class. This new vessel will reflect the qualities of her sister ships, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, while enhancing them in ways that will delight even our most demanding guests. For example, she will have 100 additional cabins and innovative new features such as the gorgeous Infinity Pool in the aft. Today is also the ideal moment to announce that the twelfth ship in our fleet will be christened in May 2012 in Marseille, one of the most visited and best loved of MSC Cruises’ destinations.”.”