MSC Poesia completed MSC Cruises' first Alaska season on September 28, 2026, closing the line's initial regular deployment in a market long dominated by Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

The 2,550-guest Musica-class ship arrived in Seattle in early May, fresh from a refit in Europe, and ran a series of seven-night cruises to Alaska and British Columbia through the summer. Itineraries combined scenic cruising in Endicott Arm with calls at Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Victoria and Icy Strait Point.

The deployment mattered for distribution as much as capacity. Seattle gave MSC a second homeport presence on the U.S. West Coast and put its product in front of Alaska-bound travel sellers who previously had no reason to book the line for the region. Alaska is one of the highest-priced cruise markets in North America, and a summer slot there extends MSC's selling season beyond its core Caribbean base.

The ship is now heading back to familiar territory. Following its final Alaska sailing, MSC Poesia departed on a 19-night repositioning cruise from Seattle to Miami, visiting California, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. Before transiting the Panama Canal, the 2008-built vessel is scheduled to call at Los Angeles, San Diego, Cabo San Lucas and Puntarenas, followed by Colón and Cartagena de Indias on the Caribbean side.

For the 2026-27 season, the ship will offer a series of five- to 11-night cruises from Miami covering the Western, Eastern and Southern Caribbean. Calls include Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, along with Puerto Limón in Costa Rica, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and Montego Bay in Jamaica.

The winter season ends in early April with an 18-night repositioning voyage to the West Coast via the Panama Canal.

MSC has committed to the Alaska experiment beyond a single summer. The ship is scheduled to return to the region for a second season in 2027, followed by another deployment in 2028, with Caribbean sailings from PortMiami filling the gap between Alaska seasons.

That back-to-back commitment signals the line sees measurable demand in the market rather than a one-off test — and gives agents a third consecutive summer of Alaska inventory to sell on a brand that, until this year, had none.