Was launching two ships in one year just too much? Seatrade Insider reports that MSC Cruises has decided to postpone the launch of MSC Magnifica until March 2010 but does not give a reason.
It's the second change for the yo-yo-ship. It was originally going to come out in March 2010, but the launch date was changed to December 2009, with a naming ceremony in Hamburg and an inaugural season in the Caribbean.
But now that inaugural season has been scrapped as well. Instead the ship will operate in the Med until September 2010, when it will reposition to New York, where MSC will have a debut season of autumn foliage cruises between the Big Apple and Quebec City. As winter 2010/11 draws in, it will move to Fort Lauderdale, and pick up on the seven-night Caribbean cruises.
MSC Cruises, you will recall, got last year's launches underway when MSC Poesia was named in Dover in April and also signed off the year with a naming ceremony in Naples for MSC Fantasia in December.
I wonder whether they felt Poesia had suffered because they were having to promote Fantasia before the former had even come out of the shipyard. Maybe after the experience in Naples, when we all froze watching the naming ceremony, they have decided Hamburg in December is not a good place to be. Could they just want to keep their euros in the bank a little longer?
It'll be interesting to see how Costa fares this year. They have two ships launching in 2009. The difference is they will be entering service so close together they are sharing a naming ceremony. So at least it makes sense to be talking about two new ships at the same time.
Jane Archer
