Fantasia

MSC Cruises' MSC Fantasia, which debuts in November 2008, will be the cruise line's biggest ship ever. At 133,500 tons and carrying 3,300 passengers, it's also the line's first post-Panamax vessel.

MSC leaked some new details about the ship during the christening festivities for its recent new-build MSC Poesia, which was launched this April in Dover. Onboard, expect the innovations that tend to come with bigger ships. For example:

MSC Fantasia will feature more bars and restaurants than ever before. Newcomers on tap include a jazz club, a Tex-Mex eatery and a French restaurant.

The ship will be built for winter cruising in the Mediterranean. This includes a covered pool for dips during inclement weather. A Formula One simulator is in the works, too, for additional year-round entertainment.

A new "aqua park" on the lido deck features water fountains that at night will light up and dance to music, putting on an al fresco show.

There will be more space for children, including a 400-square-meter facility and two-deck-high waterslide.

Fantasia (and sister ship Splendida, which launches a year later) will offer a second "class" of cruising via its exclusive Yacht Club concept. Suites, larger and more amenity-laden than on previous ships, will be grouped around a common concierge, lounge, pool and elevator, with exclusive access to the Aurea Spa, which will be the biggest in the fleet.
The outside cabin ratio is already high at 80 percent. However, that number is even more remarkable when you realize that nearly all of those outside cabins come with private verandahs (95 percent of the outside staterooms will have balconies).