Oceania Floats Out Vista, Line's First New Cruise Ship In a Decade

(11:23 a.m. EST) -- Oceania Cruises celebrated the float out of its newest cruise ship, the 1,200 guest Vista, during a ceremony at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente, Italy.

Named to reflect "a new age in travel," Oceania president and CEO Howard Sherman said Vista is the "most anticipated ship in the history of our company. … Vista is truly a ship of dreams, and we cannot wait to welcome her inaugural season guests next year."

Vista is the first of two new 1,200-passenger Allura-class vessels being built for Oceania, with the second due for delivery in 2025. Vista is the company's first newbuild cruise ship to be launched in a decade following the debut of Oceania's Riviera in 2012.

Highlights aboard Vista will include 12 dining experiences, a new category of Concierge Level Veranda staterooms dedicated to solo travelers and what the company says are the most spacious standard cabins at sea.

The archbishop of Genoa, Monsignor Tasca, blessed the ship before it was christened with a bottle of prosecco by the shipyard’s Madrina, Anna Trucco, on Friday.

Oceania's new Vista sets sail on its inaugural 11-night voyage from Rome to Barcelona on April 14, 2023. That sailing will be followed by 12 additional European itineraries before the ship heads across the Atlantic to sail to the Canadian Maritimes and New England, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean.