MSC Cruises announced that beginning in 2013, all cruises to the Caribbean will leave exclusively from the Port of Miami. The deal is pending the approval by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners later this month. The deal is expected to pass as the commissioners are looking forward to adding the MSC brand to the port. MSC currently sails out of Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale, Fl and the deal with the Port of Miami is set for 3 years. MSC mainly sails in Europe but entered the Caribbean market with the MSC Poesia.
MSC is the fastest growing cruise line and will be adding it’s 11th cruise ship this May, when the MSC Divina is launched. The Divina will feature a ship within a ship concept, the MSC Yacht Club.
Carlos Gimenez, the mayor of Miami-Dade was excited about strengthening the luxury cruise brands that currently sail out of Miami. “MSC brings another prestigious cruise brand to PortMiami’s distinctive line-up of ships,” Gimenez said. “We are eager to welcome MSC to our Port.”
Miami is known as the Cruise Capital of the World, with more than 4 million passengers sailing out of Miami in 2011. Cruising out of Miami offers cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, transatlantic cruises, and cruises through the Panama Canal. The wide variety of cruises and the number of cruises give passengers the most choices and offer unparalleled competition in pricing compared with other ports.
Commissioner Sosa said that they are looking forward to rolling out the red carpet for MSC passengers and vessels.
