Grand Mistral and MSC Musica on the Gulf of Finland, 30 May 2013

Grand Mistral

IMO 9172777
Name history: Mistral, Grand Mistral
Built 1999, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 48 200 GT
Length 216 m
Width 28,80 m
Draught 6,90 m
1 715 passengers
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 31 680 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22,5 knots

MSC Musica

IMO 9320087
Built 2006, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 92 409 GT
Length 293,80 m
Width 32,20 m
Draught 7,70 m
2 550 passengers (lower berths), 3 031 passengers (maximum)
5 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 58 000 kW
2 propellers
3 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 22 knots

The Grand Mistral was featured in the this blog in the previous entry and probably needs no introduction. The MSC Musica, meanwhile, is the lead ship of MSC's Musica-class, the other ships in the class being the MSC Orchestra, MSC Poesia and MSC Magnifica. Interestingly from the point of view of this entry the Musica-class is essentially an evolution of the Grand Mistral's design, via the intermediary designs of Festival Cruises' European Vision -class (today MSC's MSC Armonia and MSC Sinfonia) and MSC's own Lirica-class.

The photographs below show the Grand Mistral and MSC Musica on the Gulf of Finland outside of St. Petersburg, photographed from onboard St. Peter Line's Princess Anastasia. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The cloudy weather, position of the sun, ship departure times and speeds all conspired together so that I was on the deck of the Princess Anastasia in the right place at the right time.

And the best part is, with the ship backlit like that you don't see the scribbles on her side. ;)

Younger semi-sister MSC Musica catching up on the Grand Mistral.

Mistral obscured by the Musica.

Next time: Princess Anastasia interiors (if I can find the time to look through them. If not, you'll probably get the Romantika instead).