MSC Cruises is getting ready to welcome a new ship next year, one that will gie the expression ‘tall ship’ an entirely different meaning from its usual use for high-masted sailing ships. At 22 stories—sorry, decks—MSC World Europa will be four stories—oops, decks—taller than Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships.
It seems as if no one is going to overtake Royal Caribbean in the overall size competition; its ships are longer and wider than anyone else’s. At 205,000 tons, World Europa is about 10% smaller than the RC ships, but is still ready to take aboard a sizable town’s worth of passengers, with 6,762 berths. And then there’s the crew.
MSC has plans to make the ship seem less intimidating or immense to passengers, with public areas broken down into different ‘districts’ including a ‘family district’ full of kid-oriented attractions and an adult’s only ‘Zen district,’ whose name gives pause: it’s not likely to be a place that emphasizes self-restraint, meditation and insight into the mind.
Among the spectacles to be advertised is a dry slide (ouch!) that plunges 11 decks down. Also on tap, six pools, 14 hot tubs, 13 restaurants, and an onboard brewery, and 19 different kinds of cabins.
