MSC Cruises has been intent on cracking the U.S. market, and major initiatives in the last year and a half have made a large impact, including a national ad campaign starring Drew Barrymore and Orlando Bloom.
Is MSC a household name now? Not quite, said Lynn Torrent, MSC's president for North America, but it's on its way.
Travel advisors also are saying that more and more vacationers know about MSC these days, and the "Let's Holiday" ads have played a role in that.
In the lead-up to the MSC World America's debut in April 2025, MSC launched the campaign, with TV viewers getting a first look during the Super Bowl. MSC also did a Super Bowl ad this past February.
The ads convey that MSC is a cruise line that combines European style and American comfort, and the banter between Barrymore and Bloom playfully expresses that message. Barrymore gives an American's perspective of the MSC World America, and Bloom, an Englishman, provides the European's perspective. (Besides starring in the ads, Barrymore was the MSC World America's godmother.)
Torrent said one agency partner described the Super Bowl ad as an advisor training tool because of how it communicated the Euro-American vibe and showed how MSC is different from other cruise lines.
Donna Carlin, owner of Stepping Out Travel Services in Brick, N.J., said the marketing campaign has effectively generated hype around the brand.
Though she's been selling MSC cruises for years, she newly has clients based on the West Coast booking MSC. Also, she said MSC's marketing has helped spark interest among clients who have sailed large-ship lines such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Besides the advertising campaign and launch of the MSC World America, MSC has increased its U.S. profile with a new Miami terminal that opened last year, launching cruises from Galveston last November and beginning its first season in Alaska in May.
Travel advisors are crucial for a cruise line's growth in the U.S. market, and positioning ships in new markets like Galveston and Alaska has helped MSC deepen advisor engagement, Torrent said.
"Galveston is a great example," she said. "We're adding travel advisors who serve that local drive market."
More growth in the U.S. is on the way. The MSC World Atlantic, the line's fourth World-class ship, will launch from Port Canaveral in 2027.
MSC's value proposition
Jasmine and Richard Ramnarine, travel advisors with Outside Agents who are also content creators, said MSC's prices seal the deal for many clients. The Ramnarines say that Royal Caribbean offers an experience that is most comparable to MSC's World America but costs more.
Both brands, for example, have large waterparks on the ships. And while Royal Caribbean's Icon- and Oasis-class ships are the largest cruise ships sailing, MSC's World-class vessels are the next largest.
"When you look at the price for a family, it makes so much more sense to go on an MSC sailing," Richard Ramnarine said.
Compared to the MSC World America, Royal Caribbean prices for seven- to 10-night cruises are on average about 28% higher this quarter, according to price averages provided by Infinity Research analyst Assia Georgieva.
Norwegian Cruise Line's prices are 21% higher and Carnival Cruise Line's about 4% lower.
As a private company, MSC doesn't have to answer to outside investors, and because the parent company is the among the world's largest shipping companies, "there is almost unlimited cash availability" for shipbuilding, Georgieva said.
The MSc World America docked at Ocean Cay, MSC Cruises' private island in the Bahamas. Photo Credit: JMT Photography and Media/Shutterstock
More investments being made
MSC's major 2025 and 2026 initiatives are just the beginning for growth in the U.S., said Suzanne Salas, MSC Cruises' executive vice president of marketing, e-commerce and sales.
The cruise line is adding experiences at Bahamian private island Ocean Cay, including an adults-only section, and extending the pier to accommodate two ships.
It is also developing a neighboring private island, Sandy Cay, that aims to deliver a luxury experience. It is slated to open in 2028.
Further, MSC is developing a beach club and pier complex on Grand Bahama Island and upgrading beach facilities on Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic.
"We've gotten to a point where we are here and people know us," she said. "There's so much momentum."
Despite MSC's size -- it's the largest cruise line in Europe by passenger capacity and deployed ships -- Salas described its U.S. operations as having a "startup element."
She recalled that about five years ago, the North America team was based in a WeWork suite. Now the team works out of a headquarters in downtown Miami that opened in January.
Salas mused, "We're all grown up."