PHOTO: The MSC Sinfonia was cut in half so a 78-foot midsection could be inserted. (Courtesy of MSC Cruises)
MSC Cruises' MSC Sinfonia has returned to service after literally being cut in half so a new section could be inserted.
After the ship was put back together, it had 200 more staterooms, more spacious public areas, additional restaurants and new kids clubs, including an outdoor aqua park with waterfalls and water slides.
The 10-week project was done at Fincantieri's shipyard, in Palermo, Italy, as part of MSC Cruises' $273 million Renaissance Program. Four ships, built between 2003 and 2005, will undergo the renovation and get a new 78-foot midsection.
The ship now accommodates 2,680 passengers, double occupancy, and grew from 60,000 to 65,000 gross registered tons.
MSC Sinfonia now is operating a mini cruise but will return to Genoa on March 31 to begin operating Western Mediterranean cruises to the Canary Islands, Madeira, mainland Spain and Portugal.
On May 6, the ship will leave Genoa for Northern Europe. It will operate seven-night itineraries to the Norwegian fjords and Baltic Sea ports such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg and Tallinn.
MSC Sinfonia is the second ship to undergo the expansion. Sister ship MSC Armonia returned to sea in November 2014. In April, MSC Opera will sail to the Palermo shipyard for its 10-week enhancement, to be followed in late August by the MSC Lirica.
MSC Cruises, which has grown by 800 percent in capacity since 2004, carried 1.67 million guests in 2014. It is forecasting an additional 10 percent growth in 2015.
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