MSC Collects €1M for Unicef

MSC Collects €1M for Unicef

 official Press Release

Great success for MSC Cruises’ Get on Board for Children initiative

MSC Cruises is proud to announce that a grand total of 1 million euros has been collected so far for the Get on Board for Children initiative in support of a project promoting quality education development in Brazil.

The initiative, which relies on donations generously made by guests cruising aboard all 11 passenger liners in the MSC Cruises’ fleet, was introduced in 2009 as part of a three-year partnership agreement with UNICEF and the UNICEF Urban Platform Initiative project in Brazil. The project aims to help address the structural and social inequalities in 94 favelas in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Itaquaquecetuba.

By joining the initiative, MSC Cruises has demonstrated its deep commitment to the promotion of equal opportunities for children and adolescents through the provision of access to quality education.

The project is currently on the homestretch of the initiative’s first cycle, in which governments, non-governmental organizations, communities, families and adolescents have pulled together to give an even stronger boost to reaching the goals initially established by municipalities and communities at the beginning of the project.

In terms of education for instance, municipal schools from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have launched a monitoring process to assess the implementation of Law 10639/03 which requires the inclusion of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture in all official school curriculums. The objective is to expand the number of schools implementing the law in order to foster racial equality and in so doing provide children and adolescents with quality education. This is precisely what MSC Cruises is committed to.

“1 million euros represents a major milestone in our fund raising effort and we are honoured, together with our valued passengers who have so generously supported this initiative, to actively participate in providing quality education to children and adolescents in the most destitute of Brazilian favelas. I am proud of the significant achievements reached so far. While I appreciate that we must progress one step at a time to succeed in our endeavour to drastically help improve access to quality education in Brazil, I am confident that our objectives will be achieved”, said MSC Cruises CEO Pierfrancesco Vago.

Get on Board for Children
MSC Cruises’ guests are invited to Get on Board for Children and make a difference by offering a small donation in addition to their cruise fare. This can be as little as €1 which can simply be added to the bill at the end of their cruise.

Soft Drinks Package Prices — Cruiseline Comparison 2011

 Soft Drinks Package Prices — Cruiseline Comparison 2011

Most cruiselines offer you the chance to buy a drinks package to save on cost of buying drinks individually. Over the next few weeks we’re going to give you the chance to compare everyone’s packages. This week soft drinks are on the table.

Soft drinks packages are particularly useful for parents taking children on board – and for those of you who don’t drink a great deal of alcohol of course 

We’ve worked out that the average price of soft drinks on board is about £2.00 per glass so if you drink a lot, the bill can soon creep up!

Here’s a rundown of what everyone charges, and more importantly, what you get for your money…

 Have you ever bought a soft drinks package? What do you think of the above deals? Any surprises?

Cruise market will see ‘modest growth’ in 2012, says PSA

Cruise market will see ‘modest growth’ in 2012, says PSA

Oct 04, 2011 06:00AM GMT

The growth in the number of British cruise passengers is to slow to just 1% next year, the Passenger Shipping Association has admitted.

This represents a slowdown from a projected increase of 5% this year and almost 6% in 2010.

Figures released at the Travel Convention in Palma show an estimated 1.73 million passengers will take a cruise holiday next year, a rise of just over 1% on this year’s forecast figure of 1.71 million passengers.

PSA director Bill Gibbons attributed the slowdown to fewer new ships entering service in 2012.

“Looking forward, we anticipate modest growth in 2012 as capacity slows following the reduction in the number of new ships being built,” he said.

“However, we remain confident that growth will continue over the coming years as companies introduce new ships including the 3,611 passenger vessel for P&O Cruises, the largest in their fleet, due for introduction in early 2015.

“The great choice of ships now providing cruise holidays from the UK to a wide variety of destinations will lead to more passengers sailing from British ports.”

The figures show that a record number of passengers are expected to depart on cruises from the UK in 2012 at 835,000, against 760,000 this year.

Gibbons added: “Cruising is expected to continue to outperform other areas of the holiday market with travel agents, who account for around 80% of sales, continuing to play an important role.”

The PSA expected seven new ships to enter service in 2012 for companies such as Carnival Cruises Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises.