MSC To Be On West Coast

[mcrcruiser]

Not sure this is a rumor but ,some one on the Holland Board posted that MSC is going to place ships on the West coast  .We are hoping that a ship will be in San Diego  .If they are going to be in rhe San Pedro or Long Beach area please build a parking garage  ,The parking in San Pedro is not good .  Carnival operates from Long Beach &  RCL ,Norwegian .Princess operate from San Pedro 

 

 Any information would be helpful & welcome . We would book into  the Yavht Club 

 TIA

[kluv2cruz]

Did you learn anything about this?

[sfaaa]

More competition can only be good news to cruisers.

[mizzoufinal4]

Well I know they are trying to build a terminal in Seattle. So if that gets passed ( it may have already been passed, not sure). So I am sure when that happens they will add some West coast cruise before/after the Alaskan cruises.

[Heartgrove]

I will welcome a MSC ship on the West Coast, but MSC needs to complete their growth and opening of the terminal in Galveston first. With the MSC World America arriving by 2025, expect continued growth into the US market. The big question I have is where the MSC Fantasia will be sailing after April 8, 2024?

[CruizinSusan70]

I would venture that it will be a while before MSC plants a ship in California.  They already have their footprint solidly in Florida and recently added Brooklyn to the mix with the Meraviglia.  Next up would be placing multiple ships in Galveston and then of course multiple ships to sail Alaska.  The question would be where are they going to reposition the Alaska ships for the six months they would not be in Alaska.  They could be competition with the NCL Bliss that does some west coast and usually four Panama Canal cruises when she is not in Alaska.

[Heartgrove]

More speculation on my part concerning the MSC Fantasia includes the fact that it is a NeoPanamax-sized ship so would be capable of doing Panama Canal transits in the new canal, and continue on the West Coast plus Alaska. It could be allocated to Galveston with this in mind. Thoughts?

[CruizinSusan70]

On 7/16/2023 at 8:53 PM, Heartgrove said:

More speculation on my part concerning the MSC Fantasia includes the fact that it is a NeoPanamax-sized ship so would be capable of doing Panama Canal transits in the new canal, and continue on the West Coast plus Alaska. It could be allocated to Galveston with this in mind. Thoughts?

That would be interesting since no other ship I'm aware of is stationed in Galveston during the winter and then goes to Alaska and the west coast.  The NCL Bliss is stationed in Miami during the winter, does the transit of the canal, a few west coast sailings and then the Alaska season.  In October, she just retraces her steps and is back in Miami for the late fall and winter again.

Once MSC establishes itself in Galveston, they will probably have 2 or 3 ships permanently there.  A smart move would be to have one ship do alternating 10/11 day sailings that could reach other ports than the same old same old ports that the 7 day cruises embark to.

[Heartgrove]

My question about where the MSC Fantasia will be sailing after April 2024 has been answered. I just checked the MSC website and the MSC Fantasia will be doing a loop around the Western Mediterranean including Taragona, Valencia, Marseille, Genoa, Livorno, and Civitavecchia until October 19, 2024. No deployment to North America yet.

[4sallypat]

Would love MSC to have a west coast port of departure!

 

Living in California, I'd travel anywhere to Oregon or Washington if they would cruise here.

 

Not interested in cruising from East coast or Caribbean / Mexico.

 

Very interested in cruises to Alaska or Canada!

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, 4sallypat said:

Would love MSC to have a west coast port of departure!

 

Living in California, I'd travel anywhere to Oregon or Washington if they would cruise here.

 

Not interested in cruising from East coast or Caribbean / Mexico.

 

Very interested in cruises to Alaska or Canada!

Well, the only cruises to Canada you'll find are primarily out of NYC during September and October for fall foliage.  The only west coast Canada cruises would be those that embark from Vancouver or those that stop in Victoria as a foreign port stop that embark from Seattle.

It'll be a few more years till MSC tackles Alaska.  They have their foothold in FLA, are now in NYC with the Meraviglia and will soon be in Galveston.  It'll be baby steps until they infiltrate other ports on the west coast and take on Alaska.

[4sallypat]

12 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Well, the only cruises to Canada you'll find are primarily out of NYC during September and October for fall foliage.  The only west coast Canada cruises would be those that embark from Vancouver or those that stop in Victoria as a foreign port stop that embark from Seattle.

It'll be a few more years till MSC tackles Alaska.  They have their foothold in FLA, are now in NYC with the Meraviglia and will soon be in Galveston.  It'll be baby steps until they infiltrate other ports on the west coast and take on Alaska.

Yes, I agree.  

It will be awhile.

 

I would gladly take a cruise on MSC from Vancouver up thru the Canadian islands into the Alaskan inner passage and up to Anchorage.

 

In the meantime, my next cruise in spring 2024 will be on MSC Bellissima - Japan - Okinawa - Taiwan...

Edited July 19, 2023 by 4sallypat