Key Aspects:
- MSC Cruises placed a €3.5 billion order to build two more World-class ships.
- The vessels will debut in 2030 and 2031 and are currently referred to as World Class 7 and 8.
- Two other World-class ships marked construction milestones at their French shipyard.
MSC Cruises is making another major investment in its future, to the tune of €3.5 billion ($4 billion USD), with the order of two more World-class ships.
The cruise line and the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France confirmed the order of the ships, temporarily called World Class 7 and 8, on November 12, 2025. The two vessels are slated to launch in 2030 and 2031, respectively, bringing the MSC Cruises’ fleet to 29 ships.
Construction of the World Class 7 and 8 ships is scheduled to begin in 2029.
MSC Cruises has two World-class ships already operating — MSC World Europa (2022) and MSC World America (2025). Two more are under construction at the French shipyard, MSC World Asia, due to launch in 2026, and MSC World Atlantic, set to debut in 2027.
Two additional vessels, World Class 5 and 6, were ordered in May 2025 and will enter service in 2029 and 2030, respectively.
The cruise line’s World-class ships are the largest in the industry, next to Royal Caribbean’s Icon class. MSC Cruises’ World-class vessels are nearly 216,000-gross tons, while Icon class ships are just under 249,000-gross tons.
The World-class ships each accommodate 6,700 guests with all berths occupied, plus around 2,100 crew members. The expansion of the class means that when all eight ships are operating simultaneously, they will together host more than 53,000 passengers.
World-class ships also share a key environmental component: They are all powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which emits significantly less CO2 than traditional maritime fuels.
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The announcement of the new two-ship order was made while MSC Cruises celebrated major construction milestones for MSC World Asia and MSC World Atlantic.
MSC World Asia was floated out from her construction bay, as her hull touched water for the first time, while a traditional maritime coin ceremony, or keel laying, was held for MSC World Atlantic, with a good luck coin being welded to the interior of her hull.
“Today is a very proud day for MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, as we celebrate important milestones for our future – the float out of MSC World Asia, the coin ceremony for MSC World Atlantic, and the order of two new ships,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division.
“The World Class platform is symbolic of our aim to set new standards for the future of cruising. These are some of the most energy-efficient ships in the world, demonstrating our commitment to the use of LNG and ensuring we are always ready for future renewable fuels,” added Vago.
With the new ship orders, MSC Cruises has so far invested €10.5 billion ($12 billion USD) in the World-class series of ships.
Next World-Class Ship to Debut in Late 2026
The next MSC World-class ship to launch will be MSC World Asia, which is scheduled to sail her inaugural voyage on December 4, 2026. Although she is named for Asia, the ship will debut in the Western Mediterranean and sail multiple 7-night itineraries through October 2027.
Bookings for MSC World Asia are open for sale, and guests have a choice of embarkation ports, including Barcelona, Spain; Marseille, France; Valletta, Malta; and Genoa and Rome, Italy.
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Her maiden voyage will sail roundtrip from Barcelona and call at Marseille, France, Genoa and Rome, Italy, Messina, Sicily, and Valletta, Malta.
When MSC World Atlantic enters service in 2027, she will be based in the US, at Port Canaveral, and sail Caribbean voyages during the 2027-28 winter season.
