Epic fun! New MSC Cruises ship will target families with massive top-deck play zone
Call it the most family-friendly MSC Cruises ship ever.
The world's third-largest cruise line on Wednesday announced that its next new vessel, MSC World America, would have a massive family fun zone on its top deck with everything from a giant water park to a ropes course and a rock climbing wall.
Dubbed The Harbour, the sprawling complex will target families in a way the line never has before, with a mix of watery and non-watery attractions, grab-and-go food options and a lounging area.
It'll also offer live musical performances designed to keep parents entertained while their kids play on the attractions around them.
The new zone will debut in April 2025 as MSC World America begins sailings out of Miami.
Currently under construction at a shipyard in France, MSC World America will be the biggest MSC Cruises ship ever to sail in North America and one of the biggest ships from any line to have sailed in the region.
Measuring 216,000 gross tons, it'll be the world's seventh-biggest cruise ship when it debuts. Only Royal Caribbean's recently unveiled Icon of the Seas — the world's largest cruise ship — and Royal Caribbean's six giant Oasis Class vessels are bigger.
MSC Cruises has designed MSC World America specifically to appeal to North Americans looking for a megaship experience. In sailing out of Miami, it'll be competing head-to-head with Icon of the Seas and one of Carnival Cruise Line's biggest ships, Carnival Celebration, in a battle royale for the megaship-loving family cruiser.
Related: 3 of the world's biggest cruise ships soon will battle for supremacy out of Miami
Like those two vessels, it'll be packed with onboard restaurants, bars, lounges and top-deck attractions, many of them aimed squarely at families.
As part of Wednesday's announcement, MSC Cruises said the new Harbour family zone atop MSC World America would include:
- The Harbour Aquapark, a watery play zone with four waterslides, including a 90-degree vertical drop slide that starts with a freefall through a trap door
- Jaw Drop @ The Spiral, an 11-deck-high dry slide that spirals down from the area to another passenger zone below
- A rock-climbing wall
- The High Trail Ropes Course, a two-level ropes course that spans 6,210 square feet and includes two "sky rails" that are similar to a zip line
- The Harbour Light House, a themed playground for kids modeled after the lighthouse at MSC Cruises' private island in the Bahamas, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve
- The Harbour Bar & Bites, a family-friendly grab-and-go eatery
- The Family Dwelling Area, which has family-friendly seating
- Cliffhanger, an overwater swing ride that MSC Cruises announced for the ship earlier this year
The Harbour will be one of three family-friendly areas in close proximity on the ship that together will be known as the Family Aventura district. The two other areas are the Doremiland kids program zone, which will have seven different kids rooms, and the Sportsplex, a multiuse pavilion for bumper cars, rollerblading and other family-friendly activities.
MSC World America will also have six pools and 14 hot tubs, making it one of the most pool-covered ships at sea.
For the summer of 2025, MSC World America will sail from Miami on Saturdays on seven-night trips to the Caribbean.
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