MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia ship made its inaugural call on St Maarten this week. 

It was the second inaugural call for Port St Maarten so far in the 2019-2020 cruise season. 

“Once again Port St Maarten and the destination have been able to welcome the sixth largest cruise ship in the world and offer its guests and crew amazing experiences during their visit to the destination,” St Maarten Tourism Minister Stuart Johnson said following the visit. “MSC Cruises is one of our cruise partners, and the Government and the port will continue to work diligently to continue to grow our cruise numbers for 2019-2020 season and beyond as more cruise vessels come online.”

MSC Meraviglia, which first launched in 2017, is making its North American debut this cruise season out of Miami.

With capacity for more than 5,500 passengers, it is the lead ship of MSC’s “Vista Project” ships, and the largest of all MSC ships sailing from the United States. 

This week is the ship’s first-ever Caribbean sailing. 

“The inaugural call of MSC Meraviglia was another significant occasion and an important milestone for cruise tourism.  We express our gratitude and appreciation to our cruise partners as we continue to work together to bring our cruise tourism to new heights,” Port St. Maarten Management said in a statement.