MSC Cruises Announces a New Class of Mega Ships with an Adventurous Name

Cruise fans love a new ship. Cruise fans really love a new ship class. And this week, MSC Cruises gave us one to watch.

MSC just announced it’s launching an entirely new ship platform called New Frontier, a brand-new class of cruise ships that will start arriving in 2030. Four ships are officially on order, with two more potentially waiting in the wings.

Despite the bold name—and at a moment when cruise lines are building everything from XXL floating cities to much smaller vessels meant for river and expedition cruising (like Celebrity’s new Celebrity River Cruises fleet and Royal Caribbean’s hinted-at smaller Discovery Class )—these are still unmistakably mega-ships

Related: MSC Cruises to Add Two New Ships to International Fleet for 2030 and 2031

Each New Frontier ship will carry up to 5,400 passengers, putting it squarely in the mega-ship category. That makes it significantly larger than many ships sailing today, including Princess Cruises’ Sphere Class vessels, which typically carry around 4,300 guests at max.

At the same time, New Frontier won’t reach the extreme scale of the industry’s biggest ships. MSC’s own World Class ships, like MSC World America, can carry more than 6,700 passengers, while Royal Caribbean’s Icon Class ships—the largest cruise ships in the world—accommodate nearly 7,600 guests.

In other words, New Frontier sits between traditional large ships and today’s floating cities: still very big, but not the biggest at sea.

According to a press statement, MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vagosays the New Frontier class is about rethinking design and technology rather than just building bigger. “The New Frontier class will enable us to design new and exclusive itineraries, offer exceptional guest experience and will feature next-generation environmental technologies that will advance our net-zero 2050 commitment."

Related: Holland America Line Announces Renovations to One of Its Fan-Favorite Ships

That suggests these ships won’t be World Class clones. While MSC hasn’t revealed specifics yet—no deck plans, no headline attractions—the company is positioning New Frontier as a more flexible platform, even if “flexible” still comes with 5,400 fellow passengers.

There’s also a notable shift behind the scenes. For the first time, MSC Cruises is partnering with Germany’s iconic Meyer Werft to build its ships. Meyer Werft CEO Dr. Bernd Eikenscalled the deal “a significant milestone in the 230-year history of Meyer Werft,” adding, “We are delighted to welcome MSC Cruises as a new customer and strategic partner.”

For cruisers, that could be big news. Meyer Werft-built ships are known for strong engineering and high-quality, innovative design, with a reputation for efficiency, advanced technology and early adoption of emerging fuel solutions. The German shipyard was among the first to introduce liquefied natural gas (LNG)–powered cruise ships, helping push the industry toward greater fuel efficiency (the yard has previously built vessels for Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line, among others).

“For the first time, they’re building at Germany’s historic Meyer Werft yard. It’s an advanced shipyard, let me tell you—there have been a lot of firsts there. It’s really a state-of-the-art shipyard. NCL’s ships with the go-karts started there,” says Stewart Chiron, also known as The Cruise Guy. “It will be interesting to see what innovations are constructed aboard this new class of ships.”

The catch? You’ll have to wait. Deliveries begin in 2030, with one ship arriving each year after that.

For now, New Frontier is more promise than preview. But in an industry where “new” often means “slightly updated,” a true new ship class—mega-sized and all—is still something worth paying attention to.

Related: 7 Cruises Every Woman Over 50 Should Consider, From a Cruise-Savvy Travel Pro

This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.