OPENING OF SALES FOR MSC CRUISES’ FIRST NEXT GENERATION SHIP, MSC MERAVIGLIA

Sales of sought-out cruises on this ground-breaking 315m-long ship will at first be open exclusively to MSC Club members, as befits a programme that rewards and best serves loyal guests across MSC Cruises’ growing fleet. Then, on 5 July sales will open to meet the already strong demand from other cruise lovers and experienced travellers.

The dedicated webpage to book a best-in-class holiday experience can be accessed here, making it easy to view and select the 12 refined types of cabin.

Gianni Onorato, Chief Executive Officer of MSC Cruises, declared: “The opening of sales marks yet another decisive milestone in MSC Cruises’ expansion plan, especially as MSC Meraviglia’s inaugural cruise will take place in two years from now. MSC Meraviglia is a true maritime marvel and will be one of the greenest and safest ships in the industry, as well as one of the most technologically advanced. We are thrilled to offer MSC Club members the first pick to book their distinctive holiday experience so far in advance, another way in which we provide best-in-class service. This ship is perfect for cruising year-round in any destination almost everywhere around the world in outstanding comfort and style. The demand we are seeing for our product translates the eagerness with which MSC Meraviglia is awaited.”

MSC Meraviglia will be the biggest and most innovative cruise ship ever built by a global European-based cruise line. The cutting-edge 5,700-guest, 167,600-GRT ship — due to be delivered in May 2017—will spend her first summer sailing the western Mediterranean, and will be the first to have three homeports: Genoa, Marseille and Barcelona. MSC Meraviglia will be perfectly able to call at any cruise port in the world, meaning travellers from the more than 150 countries from which MSC Cruises sources its guests will be able to explore more of the best destinations.

MSC Meraviglia will be a ship full of cutting-edge technology and will feature a range of services ranging from ‘Near Field Communication’ technology to mobile applications and the use of smart devices throughout the ship, thus enabling guests to interact with the ship and the onboard community or select and plan their activities. This technology will also allow guests to make payments, access their cabins or geo-locate children, friends and onboard locations using their cruise card or smartphone. Another jaw-dropping feature, and an industry first, will be a 480-square-metre LED screen, which forms the entire ceiling of the ship’s interior promenade. Like a digital sky, this LED image vault will beam out compelling images and vistas day and night – including highly impactful visual events – creating a variety of powerful atmospheres at all times.

With such an innovative ship, the Company also introduces new cabins that will enhance the care it takes of its guests, with specially crafted Family and Super Family cabins, duplex cabins and an extended MSC Yacht Club, the wholly self-contained luxury area on the prestigious foredecks, a vast solarium and a private lounge and restaurant. She will be packed with extraordinary features that make it ideal for cruising all year-round in any destination, including wide dining options and entertainment choices, stunning panoramic spaces, a large theatre and a spectacular amusement park linked to an outdoor aqua park, as well as a three-deck interior promenade.

Entertainment options are also widely available through the day for everyone, from music, games and other various activities, without forgetting parents and their little ones –with partnerships with global brands Lego and Chicco that further exemplify the Company’s commitment to creating unforgettable holidays for families and their children. MSC Cruises endeavours to provide outstanding cruising experience to its guests throughout their holiday aboard the Company’s expanding fleet. To do so, MSC Cruises offers a rich programme of varied and spectacular shows, impressive Broadway and Las Vegas-style theatrical performances, live music and dance-'til-dawn nightlife.

MSC Meraviglia is the first of two identical ships on order from STX France, the second of which will be entered in to service in 2019. In addition, MSC Cruises has options for two further Vista project ships to be delivered by 2022.

Fine food is an unforgettable centrepiece of every MSC cruise, with a vast array of mouth-watering choices ranging from formal dining in a choice of delicious restaurants to an extensive buffet with “visible kitchen” and dedicated sections covering everyone’s favourite foods, freshly prepared by highly-trained chefs. In addition, another recent noteworthy additional partnership was struck with Italian restaurant and marketplace brand Eataly, which promotes a real understanding of high-quality food, that adds high-end Italian cuisine based on exceptional ingredients to the fleet’s rich Mediterranean and international dining offering.

In other news, MSC cruises today proceeded to the steel-cutting of the first of its other new generation of ships, MSC Seaside, during a ceremony held at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. The ship is set to debut in November 2017, and will be christened the following month in Miami – the first time an MSC Cruises’ ship is christened in the USA. In addition, MSC Cruises’ Miami-based cruise operations – which include from autumn 2015 the stunning 139.072 GRT MSC Divina - will benefit from a newly renovated and expanded dedicated berth and terminal at PortMiami, further signifying the Company’s strong ambitions in the North American market and to providing guests with a best-in-class quality of services.