"MSC Splendida" called at the port of Ashdod

This is the largest passenger ship ever to visit Israel. MSC Israel president: There is hope that the company will add Israel to its regular sailing schedule
 
Israel Transportation Minister, Israel Katz, visited last week the largest passenger ship ever to arrive in Israel. The cruise ship MSC Splendida, the second in MSC Cruises' "Fantasia" class of cruise ships and the newest addition to the MSC fleet visited last week the port of Ashdod. The ship accommodated about 3,500 passengers and 1,400 crew members.
 
MSC Splendida – at 137,936 gross registered tons and 1,092 feet long, 124 feet wide and 219 feet tall – is one of the largest Post-Panamax megaships in the world's cruise fleet and, with a top cruising speed of 23 knots, is capable of sailing extensive itineraries.
 
MSC Splendida follows the innovative MSC Fantasia. Both are the largest ships ever built for MSC and, as well, offer some fresh new concepts onboard. Among them are French restaurant L'Etoile and the elaborate Yacht Club, a ship-within-a-ship concept that offers a more luxurious ambience on the large vessel.
 
MSC Splendida offers 1,637 staterooms with 80 percent of them, including the ship's 107 suites, providing an ocean view. MSC Splendida features the company's newest private club concept, MSC Yacht Club, which was originally introduced on the MSC Fantasia.
 
MSC Israel president Edni Simkin said at the welcome ceremony that MSC cruise vessels used to call at Ashdod, a service which was terminated in 2000 due to the Palestinian Intifada. Simkin noted that the Israeli turism market is of utmost importance to MSC hence there is hope that the company will add Israel to its regular sailing schedule.