As the MSC Meraviglia made history in Manhattan earlier this week as the largest ship to ever dock in New York City, it also underscored MSC Cruises’ ambitions in the North American cruise market.

“This is a perfect example of our commitment to growing in the North American market,” said Ken Muskat, executive vice president and COO of MSC Cruises (USA), pointing to the arrival of a new class of vessel in the biggest cruise market of all: the United States.

“MSC Cruises is the fastest growing cruise line in the world. We travel to over 200 destinations globally and we carry over 180 nationalities onboard our ships at any given time,” Muskat said, speaking onboard the Meraviglia earlier this week.

“We are growing in North America in a very big way.”

The Meraviglia is scheduled to sail a handful of Canada/New England cruises out of Manhattan’s Pier 88 this fall before repositioning to PortMiami for the winter season.

The 2017-built ship adds 4,500 MSC berths into the North American market and the New York program will be repeated in 2020, as will the winter season out of Florida’s number one port.

From November 10, 2019 through April 5, 2020, the Meraviglia will sail two different seven-night western Caribbean itineraries visiting ports in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Belize, Honduras and the Bahamas.

In addition, this winter, the Meraviglia joins a diversified lineup of MSC ships out of South Florida, alongside the year-round Seaside, as well as the Armonia and Divina. All four ships have scheduled calls at MSC’s new private island, Ocean Cay, which is due to open in November.

“For the first time in our company’s history we are going to have four ships dedicated to the U.S. market,” Muskat said.

The four vessels together combine for just under 15,000 berths.

For the 2020-2021 season, the Armonia is set to move to a new homeport for MSC in Tampa, where she will offer four- and five-night sailings.