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Captain not solely to blame, says prosecutor

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  1. Captain not solely to blame, says prosecutor

    According to today’s Telegraph, the chief prosecutor in charge of the inquiry has implored investigators to look beyond the behaviour of the captain to the role played by the liner’s owners, Costa Cruises.

    His comments were published as salvage experts began the difficult task of removing around 2,400 tonnes of fuel from the vessel.

    Beniamino Deidda, the prosecutor, said in an interview carried by several Italian newspapers today: “For the moment, attention is generally concentrated on the responsibility of the captain, who showed himself to be tragically inadequate. But who chooses the captain?”

    He said investigators needed to avert their gaze to the decisions taken by “the employer; that is to say, the ship’s owner”.

    Deidda, who has spent a large part of his career dealing with health and safety cases, said numerous other issues needed to be addressed.

    He specifically mentioned “lifeboats that did not come down, crew who did not know what to do [and] scant preparation in crisis management”.

    He added that it was “absurd” that in at least one instance, recorded on video after the Costa Concordia was holed, a member of the crew should have told passengers to return to their cabins.

    Schettino has also maintained that his employers have a shared responsibility for what happened. Among the questions the inquiry is seeking to answer is why more than an hour elapsed between impact and the order to abandon ship.

    Questioned by prosecutors last week, the captain said that he was in frequent contact with a representative of the company during that period.

    Schettino and his first officer are the sole formal suspects in the inquiry, which is looking at whether to bring charges of manslaughter and the illegal abandoning of a ship.

    On Monday, islanders reported seeing a large fuel slick in the waters off Giglio, which are protected as a marine nature reserve. The fuel, however, is thought by the authorities to have come from the initial impact with a cluster of rocks just south of the port of Giglio.

    The official co-ordinating operations on the island said on Monday there was still no evidence that fuel had leaked from the Costa Concordia’s tanks.

Celebrity Chefs take MSC by storm!

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Celebrity Chefs take MSC by storm!

Official press release 

CELEBRITY CHEFS BRING THEIR MAGIC TO MSC CRUISES GOURMET VOYAGES AT SEA

Five*top European*chefs*teach and delight

Starting this winter, MSC Cruises will be bringing its guests the additional pleasures and insights of world-class cuisine prepared to perfection by specially-invited celebrity chefs from Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. You can choose from five delicious cruises, each designed to provide a true gourmet voyage of discovery, beginning with MSC Fantasia on 27 November 2011, continuing with MSC Splendida on January and February 2012 and finishing with MSC*Lirica in June.

“We are delighted to have hand picked a group of celebrity chefs from five culinary capitals of the world,” explained Pierfrancesco Vago, Chief Executive Officer of MSC Cruises. “While exploring the most alluring destinations in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, our guests will be able to enjoy demonstrations and tastings of outstanding European cuisine prepared to the highest gourmet standards on a cruise ship and indeed anywhere on land or sea.”

The celebrity line-up will be bringing their creative magic to the following voyages with MSC*Cruises:

MSC Fantasia, 27 November – 8 December 2011
Guests on MSC Fantasia will have the privilege of exploring the finest Spanish cuisine with two-time Michelin Star winner Paco Roncero at the helm. A specialist master of the different textures and flavours of olive oil, Paco Roncero is acclaimed as a leader of the molecular gastronomy movement. A modern Renaissance man, Paco is the Executive Chef and Manager of Casino de Madrid and Estado Puro, both praised for their innovative spin on traditional favourites, while also being a contributor to the gastronomy section of El Pais, Spain’s leading national daily newspaper and a much-admired star on Spanish television food shows.

MSC Splendida, 7-14 January 2012
In the same tradition that MSC Cruises greets its guests with genuine Italian hospitality, Chef Mauro Uliassi from Italy welcomes lovers of fine food and wine with authentic flavours from his home. With two Michelin Stars under his apron, this master of fish is the co-owner of Uliassi in his hometown, Senigallia, which has won a coveted Three Forks award from the renowned Italian Restaurant guide Gambero Rosso, the “Excellent Cuisine” award and the Accademia della Cucina Italiana’s “Recognition of Magnificence” from 2003 to 2010.

MSC Splendida, 28 January – 4 February 2012
Chef Gilles Epié joins MSC Cruises from France. Awarded a Michelin Star at the age of 22, Epié has seasoned his career with a 10-year tenure in the United States, where he was celebrated as Best Chef by Food & Wine magazine for L’Orangerie in Los Angeles. Gilles will be delighting MSC guests with the acclaimed fusion of French and New World cuisines that can also be found at Epié’s restaurant in Paris, Citrus Etoile.

MSC Splendida, 4-11 February 2012
Celebrity Chef Antony Worrall Thompson from the United Kingdom is familiar to many travellers and food lovers alike from the popular television show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here” on ITV. Always at the forefront of food and health trends, Thompson brings more than 30*years’ leading gastronomic creativity to MSC Splendida’s tables. His latest book, The Essential Low Fat Cookbook: Good Healthy Eating for Everyday, highlights deliciously healthy dishes that are also offered aboard MSC Splendida. The recipe for his flavourful career includes his first restaurant, Ménage à Trois, which was a favourite of the late Princess Diana.

MSC Lirica, 1-12 June 2012
German Celebrity Chef Kolja Kleeberg will be on board MSC Lirica for a several nights in succession, making the cruise from Hamburg to Amsterdam an experience to savour. Kolja trained in Germany at the restaurant Rino Casati in Cologne, at Le Marron in Bonn and in Switzerland at the restaurant La Punt. In 1996 he opened his own restaurant, VAU in Berlin, serving gastronomic creations that won him a Michelin star and 17 points in the Gault Millau Guide within a year. Kolja’s vision and personality have in addition made him a popular guest on several German TV shows.

 Who’s your favourite Celebrity Chef? Would you like to see them on a cruise?

Shed the pounds on a Dukan diet cruise!

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Shed the pounds on a Dukan diet cruise!

MSC Cruises is launching a unique “diet themed cruise” in January next year with one of the most famous nutritionists in the world, French diet specialist Dr Pierre Dukan.

The cruise promises to give guests the chance to lose weight, tone up and tan during a mid-winter holiday in the Med.

Losing weight naturally is key to the internationally famous Dukan Diet Method, so it’s not surprising that the 11-night cruise created especially for French speaking guests aboard the flagship MSC Fantasia is all about having fun, enjoying great food and being exposed to the ship’s extensive state-of-the-art physical fitness facilities.

Even the shore excursions and walking tours of the famous cities where MSC Fantasia calls during the cruise will form an integral part of the scientifically structured diet programme.

And the highlight of the cruise will be the chance to meet Dr Pierre Dukan himself at a private onboard party. A nutritionist and specialist in food behavior for over 30 years, his 19 books including the French best seller “I don’t know how to lose weight” (The Dukan Diet book) have sold 2.5 million copies and brought him over 20 million followers worldwide.A team of expert nutritionists, dieticians and a specialist physician trained in the Dukan Method will be onboard to give professional advice and care throughout the cruise which departs Genoa, Italy, on 30 January and returns on 10 February.

Guests will receive a Diet Kit and undergo a personal health assessment at the start of the cruise before being advised on individual diet and sports training programmes. They will also be invited to daily workshops on procedures and technical aspects of losing weight, culinary demonstrations, cooking lessons and themed conferences.

Dr. Dukan says he has strived to develop a method that allows him to have fun while dieting because he himself has always fought against being overweight.

“This method works because you can eat as much as you like from a list of 100 different foods as long as you follow the mentoring and monitoring of my team of experts,” says Dukan.

The partnership with Dr Pierre Dukan illustrates the company’s commitment to continually find new theme cruise options that meet the expectations of passengers.

“Mealtimes are one of the most luxurious features of cruise holidays. It is a time to relax and effortlessly enjoy an array of the finest gourmet gastronomy the world has to offer and Dr Dukan will be able to illustrate how our superb menus can be incorporated as part of a healthy and balanced diet programme,” said Erminio Eschena, General Director of MSC Cruises France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

MSC Fantasia’s superb onboard physical fitness facilities also present a fun accompaniment for ensuring weight loss: they include the gym, sauna, steam room, jogging track outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, squash court and even other activities like disco dancing.

During ports of call losing weight continues to be pure pleasure when exploring the cultural and artistic highlights of Barcelona, the ancient folk traditions of charming Malaga and the magnificent gardens and museums of Funchal in Madeira. Guests will also be delighted by the sacred mosques and traditional markets of Casablanca in Morocco, the gorgeous island seascapes of S. Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands and the historic landmarks that make Rome such a world famous destination.

 Have you tried the Dukan diet? Would you be interested in a Dukan cruise with MSC, if they launched one for English speaking guests?