MSC Preziosa

MSC Preziosa is a cruise ship operated by MSC Cruises and the fourth and final ship of the Fantasia class. She entered service in March 2013 from the Saint-Nazaire yard in France, measuring about 139,400 gross tons and 333 metres, with 1,751 staterooms across 18 decks.

Her origins are unusual. The hull was originally ordered by the Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi and was to have been named Phoenicia. Construction stalled with the Libyan civil war of 2011, and MSC acquired the incomplete hull, redesigning and completing it to Fantasia-class standards as Preziosa.

Onboard she carries the hallmarks of the class: a three-deck atrium with Swarovski crystal staircases, a main theatre, a broad range of restaurants and lounges, an extensive spa, and the MSC Yacht Club, the ship-within-a-ship suite concept that the Fantasia class introduced to the fleet. Her most conspicuous feature is the Vertigo slide, a spiralling water slide roughly 120 metres long that projects over the side of the ship.

Preziosa was named in Genoa in March 2013, with Sophia Loren as godmother.

She has sailed mainly in the Mediterranean, with seasons in Northern Europe and winter deployments to South America and the Arabian Gulf, and remains one of the larger ships in MSC's pre-Meraviglia fleet.