What Does The 'MSC' In MSC Cruises Stand For?

There's something special about going on a cruise: being out on the open sea, disconnecting from daily life, and having someone else handle the food and entertainment, all while discovering new destinations at every port of call. If you've ever been on a cruise, you'd probably agree that it's an experience unlike any other. When it comes time to plan a cruise with family or friends, many people spend a lot of time researching the different cruise companies. While the Royal Caribbean Group and its many ships have always been a crowd favorite, there's another cruise line that many turn to — MSC Cruises.

Those who sail with MSC Cruises get to choose from global itineraries that crisscross some of the most sought-after travel destinations in the world, including Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Africa. As one of the most prominent names in the cruise industry, MSC Cruises attracts vacationers from all over the world. Yet, many travelers don't realize that 'MSC' stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company, a reflection of the company's origins in maritime cargo transport. 

While most of us think of luxurious vacations out on the high seas when we think of MSC Cruises, the company's history dates back to 1970, when Captain Gianluigi Aponte founded the global shipping conglomerate named the Mediterranean Shipping Company, and that's where the MSC acronym we're all so familiar with comes from. When MSC got its start, the company had only one small cargo ship to its name, the MV Patricia.

From these humble beginnings, the MSC Group has gone on to become one of the world's largest and most influential container shipping companies, known for its global logistics network and privately owned fleet. In 1988, the MSC Group threw itself into the cruise business, when it acquired the liner Monterey from the Italian cruise line Lauro. The company later added two more ships to its growing fleet, Rhapsody and Melody, laying the groundwork for what would officially become MSC Cruises, the passenger-focused arm of the larger MSC Group.

Since then, MSC Cruises has continued to grow, and today it ranks as the world's third-largest cruise brand and holds the top spot across Europe, South America, the Gulf region, and Southern Africa. The company has outpaced its competitors in both market share and ship deployment and has built a sizable presence in the Caribbean, North America, and Asia. The company's fleet includes 24 modern ships operating across five continents, taking passengers to more than 300 destinations in over 100 countries. Given the wide range of destinations MSC Cruises visits, and the industry's focus on passenger safety, it's likely their ships are equipped with the advanced, secret tech cruise lines use to detect and deter modern pirates.

After all these years, the Aponte family is still at the helm of the MSC Group, overseeing its cargo shipping operations as well as its cruise business, with Captain Gianluigi Aponte serving as Group Chairman, his son Diego Aponte as Group President, and his daughter Alexa Aponte-Vago as Group Chief Financial Officer. The company traces its maritime heritage back more than 300 years to 1675, when the Aponte family began working at sea in Sorrento, Italy. Today, MSC Cruises is the world's largest privately owned cruise company.

MSC Cruises' headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and more than 30,000 people are employed by the Swiss-based company around the world. Under the MSC Group's passenger division, there are four distinct brands: MSC Cruises, the company's flagship line offering global cruise itineraries; Explora Journeys, its luxury cruise brand; Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), an Italian ferry operator providing passenger and freight services across the Mediterranean; and SNAV (Società Navigazione Alta Velocità), a ferry company operating routes between Italy and neighboring countries. While the future of cruises could be in the sky, it looks like, at least for the time being, MSC will continue to chart its course on the sea.