MSC Lirica
---
MSC Lirica
MSC Lirica is a MSC Cruises ship from the Lirica class, primarily sailing in the Mediterranean. The content describes a cruise experience with multiple cabin categories, including interior, ocean view, and balcony cabins. The ship offers wellness facilities such as the MSC Aurea Spa, an outdoor pool, jacuzzis, and a jogging track. Entertainment includes a Broadway-style theater, casino, nightclub, and virtual arcades. It is family-friendly, featuring kids’ areas, the I Pirati mini-club, and play spaces, along with onboard shops and room service.
Itineraries of the MSC Lirica
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 13
Sun Deck, Minigolf
Deck - 12
Rossini
Deck - 11
Vivaldi
Deck - 10
Bellini
Deck - 9
Albinoni
Deck - 8
Paganini
Deck - 7
Scarlatti
Deck - 6
Puccini
Deck - 5
Verdi
Deck - 4
Crew
Deck - 3
Crew
Deck - 2
Crew
Deck - 1
Crew
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Classe: Lirica Class
- Tonnage: 65591
- Speed: 21.7 knots
- Passengers: 1984
- Decks: 13
- Length: 275 m
- Width: 32 m
- Height: 54 m
History
- 2003: Année de construction
- 2003-04: Date d'inauguration
- 2015-11: Fin des rénovations
Frequently Asked Questions
MSC Lirica is a mid-size ship by current standards: 65,591 gross tons, 274.9 metres long, 28.8 metres wide, 13 decks with 9 open to guests. She carries roughly 1,984 passengers at double occupancy and up to 2,648 when every upper berth is filled, staffed by about 721 crew across 988 cabins. Next to MSC's newest hardware, she is genuinely small.
Both numbers are correct and they answer different questions. MSC Lirica has 1,984 lower berths, two per cabin, which is the figure quoted in reliable technical specs. Her maximum capacity climbs to 2,648 once families use third and fourth berths. During European school holidays the higher number is the one you will feel at the buffet and at the pool.
She was, and plenty of online listings still publish her pre-2015 dimensions. MSC Lirica went into Fincantieri's Palermo yard from 31 August to 9 November 2015 under MSC's Renaissance programme. A new 24-metre midsection was inserted into the hull, adding 193 guest cabins, 59 crew cabins and a spray park, and taking her overall length from 251.25 to 274.9 metres.
MSC Lirica spends summer and autumn 2026 in the Adriatic, running eight-day round trips from Venice and Ancona to Montenegro and the Greek islands. Venice embarkation happens at Marghera on the mainland, roughly 30 to 45 minutes from the historic centre, so build that transfer into your day. From November she shifts to Split for eleven- and twelve-day itineraries.
Twice, in fact. From January to March 2027 MSC Lirica works the Eastern Mediterranean out of Bari, Piraeus and Istanbul. She returns to Adriatic sailings from Venice and Ancona between April and October, then repositions to the Western Mediterranean for November and December with Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Valencia and Civitavecchia as turnaround ports. Your flight booking changes entirely with the season.
MSC Lirica is one of only four ships in the MSC fleet without a Yacht Club, alongside her three Lirica-class sisters. The private lounge, butler service and reserved restaurant appear on 21 of MSC's 25 ships, never on this one. The highest tier available here is the Aurea experience, which adds spa access, a private solarium and flexible dining times.
Yes, and for Quebec travellers that is MSC's strongest card. MSC Lirica delivers announcements and prints its daily programme in six languages including French, alongside Italian, English, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. The running order follows the actual passenger mix, so in the Mediterranean, where francophone guests are numerous, French comes early and often rather than as an afterthought.
The buffet on MSC Lirica is undersized for the number of people she now carries, and peak-hour queues make that obvious. Spa and gym space is tight, restaurant choice is thin, public rooms fill quickly, and reviewers repeatedly flag poor coordination between bar service and show times. Cabins are noticeably smaller than on ships built after 2015.
Anyone shopping for a floating theme park should look elsewhere. MSC Lirica has no ice rink, no indoor promenade and no row of specialty restaurants, because her hull dates from 2003 and the refit did not change that. A first-time cruiser primed by Royal Caribbean advertising will find her plain. A couple sailing for Greek ports and a calm ship will be delighted.
MSC Lirica was the first ship ever ordered new by MSC Cruises and she gives the class its name, something MSC Armonia and MSC Sinfonia cannot claim since both came from bankrupt Festival Cruises. She is also the only one of the four to have been based in Asia, from 2016 to 2018, and later in the Gulf. Her 988 cabins make her the least crowded sister.
Two are worth knowing about. On 2 November 2007 MSC Lirica was pressed against the pier at Civitavecchia during a cast-off manoeuvre, damaging her port bow, which was repaired within the month. On 12 March 2021, while laid up at Corfu, a fire that began in an empty fibreglass lifeboat scorched her hull side, with no injuries reported.
Her most recent documented work dates from 2021, following the long pandemic lay-up and repairs to the Corfu fire damage, and she re-entered service from Piraeus in April 2022. MSC has announced no major dry dock for 2026 or 2027, so the soft furnishings, bathrooms and carpets you will see are roughly five years into their life.
Transatlantic flight first, then a ground transfer. Montreal has no non-stop service to Ancona or Split, so the cleanest routing is through Venice, served seasonally, or through Rome with a train across to the Adriatic. Book a hotel night before embarkation. A six-hour time change plus an overnight flight is a poor way to start a cruise.
It will. MSC runs a one-time status match that recognises elite tiers from rival cruise lines, hotel groups and several casino programmes, dropping you into the MSC Voyagers Club at a higher level before you ever board MSC Lirica. The application is filed online, takes roughly 72 hours to process, and must be submitted before you sail.
MSC sells four: Easy, Premium Extra, an alcohol-free option and a minors version. Easy covers house wine and beer, classic cocktails and hot drinks but is excluded from specialty restaurants. Premium Extra works everywhere on MSC Lirica within a per-drink value ceiling. Every adult sharing a cabin must buy the same package, and service charges are already included in all of them.
Subscribe to our newsletter
