While the World Asia is heading for a scheduled debut in late 2026, Trevor Young, vice president of new build for MSC, is looking further out, working to build and conceptualize the World Atlantic for 2027 and two more newbuilds for MSC, plus four more ships for Explora Journeys.

“My inbox is about the next ships,” he said. “We are working more on Explora IV, V and VI and World class four, five and six. Once we get the newbuilds to a certain level and start construction, we stop the changes then hand them over to the team that takes it to delivery.”

There are always changes, Young told Cruise Industry News, but it’s about managing them and getting them done early. Most changes to newbuild plans need to either have a return on investment or deliver better guest satisfaction, he said.

If there is a change of concept or design, it gets approved by the chairman (Pierfrancesco Vago),” Young said. “We set up meetings 12 months in advance to go over each class of vessel.” Those meetings last up to three hours and are held monthly.

Young said for each class of vessel, there is a project director who is supported by a project engineer and lead architect. Depending on the complexity of the vessel and its various features, the company can bring in more support, he said.

Case in point, for the Harbor on the World America and World Asia, MSC brought in a special projects engineer just to focus on that area. The Harbor encompasses a climbing area, water slides and other family features. “It is a hugely complex area, involving us, the shipyard, external architects, different consultants for lights and sounds, and two or three subcontractors … there are probably nine or 10 parties just to coordinate,” Young said.

One interesting aspect of the Harbor was the giant swing.

“We were the first to market with that, and had to jump through hoops relating to safety and regulations, also working with Bureau Veritas,” Young said.

He pointed to the outdoor promenade on the World class ships as a notable feature, as well as the large indoor promenade, keeping the design in line with the Aponte family vision, he said.

“That is part of the uniqueness MSC has,” Young continued. “We have a vision from the owner and at the end of the day it’s a family business.”

“There are advancements and new products coming to the market all the time to help us lower our carbon footprint … you have to decide on the big items early,” Young said.

Most of the supply chain challenges brought on by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have subsided.

“We saw a big spike in costs but that is all coming back to normal; things have settled down which is good for us,” Young added.

He credited his team as the reason the company is able to deliver ships on time, on quality and to budget. This included the Seascape, Euribia, Explora I and World Europa in the span of about nine months; the latter two being prototype vessels.

“My job is the future,” Young said. “We do a lot of work on the long-term future.”