MSC Cruises Plans Seven-Ship North America Deployment in 2028

MSC Cruises will deploy seven ships in North America and the Caribbean for summer 2028, led by MSC World Atlantic in its first full year of service from Port Canaveral. The program places two ships each at Port Canaveral and PortMiami, keeps MSC Seascape in Galveston, returns MSC Poesia to Alaska and assigns MSC Opera to the Southern Caribbean.

The summer plan follows MSC’s scheduled six-ship North American deployment in 2027 and continues the line’s expansion through U.S. homeports, Alaska and private destinations in the Bahamas. MSC said the 2028 itineraries will include overnight calls at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and the debut of Sandy Cay.

“We have sunny getaways available for everyone,” said Lynn Torrent, president of MSC Cruises North America, citing short Bahamas cruises, World Class ship vacations and Southern Caribbean sailings. Torrent said the company is also building new guest experiences at Ocean Cay, Sandy Cay and Catalina Island.

Florida homeports carry the core Caribbean schedule

At Port Canaveral, MSC World Atlantic will operate seven-night Caribbean cruises after entering service in late 2027. The ship is expected to be about 216,000 gross tons and carry roughly 6,800 guests. Port Canaveral handled 8.6 million cruise passenger movements in fiscal 2025, up 13 percent from the prior year.

MSC Grandiosa will join MSC World Atlantic in Central Florida with three- and four-night Bahamas cruises. MSC already plans to place two ships at Port Canaveral for the first time in summer 2027, with MSC World Atlantic scheduled for alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings from the port during winter 2027-28.

PortMiami will also have a two-ship MSC program in summer 2028, with MSC World America and MSC Seaside. MSC World America entered service in April 2025 as a 5,400-passenger World Class ship built at Chantiers de l’Atlantique and was developed for year-round Caribbean service with changes aimed at the U.S. market.

Galveston and Alaska remain in the plan

MSC Seascape will continue from Galveston on seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries. The 170,412-gross-ton ship began year-round Texas service in November 2025 alongside the opening of Cruise Terminal 16, the $156 million facility serving MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

In May 2026, Torrent said MSC was seeing “strong momentum” in Galveston after customizing dining and entertainment aboard MSC Seascape for Texas passengers. The ship’s current Western Caribbean program includes calls in Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, and Roatan, Honduras.

MSC Poesia will return to Alaska for a third consecutive summer in 2028. MSC is entering Alaska in May 2026 with seven-night Seattle cruises on the ship, which came out of drydock with the MSC Yacht Club, new dining venues and Alaska-focused onboard programming, including a partnership with Orca that places a Marine Mammal Observer onboard during peak whale season.

Luca Garritano, MSC Cruises’ chief revenue and sales services officer, described the company’s growth strategy. “Our strategy is to keep growing in a balanced way,” Garritano said, adding that MSC wants a wider mix of embarkation ports and destinations across cruise regions.

Ocean Cay and Sandy Cay are built into the 2028 program

Ocean Cay, which opened in late 2019, gives MSC ships direct pier access in the Bahamas and is already central to the line’s Caribbean and Bahamas schedules from the United States. MSC has also planned a late-2027 pier extension at Ocean Cay so two ships can berth there at the same time.

Sandy Cay is scheduled to open in 2028 near Ocean Cay within the same 64 square miles of protected waters. The destination is being designed for MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys guests, with five beaches and tender access from ships docked at Ocean Cay.

Torrent described Sandy Cay as “a natural extension of what we’ve already built in Ocean Cay,” with a more refined beach experience while keeping a relaxed setting.

The remaining open piece of the summer 2028 plan is MSC Opera’s Southern Caribbean deployment. MSC has used the ship to build its Caribbean program before, including a planned year-round La Romana operation for winter 2026-27, but the company has not yet released the 2028 homeport, port calls or sailing pattern. Additional deployment details are scheduled to follow.