Tag Archives: MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises names second Seaside-generation smart ship MSC Seaview

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MSC Cruises’ second Seaside-generation smart ship, set to launch in June 2018, will be named MSC Seaview.

Spending its inaugural season in the western Mediterranean, MSC Seaview will homeport in Genoa, Marseille and Barcelona.

MSC’s Seaside-generation offers a high ratio of outdoor space per guest, as well as an increased number of balcony cabins and public areas.

Built by Fincantieri, MSC Seaview will feature a 360-degree promenade with glass balustrades that runs around the entire ship.

As well as Genoa, Marseille and Barcelona, MSC Seaview will call at destinations such as Naples and Messina in Italy, and Malta.

The vessel will also include the latest at sea technology, as part of a partnership with Samsung. The technology covers everything from the latest displays and mobile solution to products to help enhance the customer retail experience.

Sales for the ship are now open to MSC Voyagers members, with all other guests able to book from 18 July.

MSC Seaview’s sister ship, MSC Seaside, is entering into service in December 2017, and sailing year round from Miami, US, to a range of Caribbean and Central American destinations.

Viking, one of the most interesting stories in cruising, just got more interesting

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Viking Cruises quietly turned an important corner last week – one that signals the company may be on the cusp of significant growth.

The transition came through a vehicle called MISA Investments Ltd., which received a $500 million equity infusion from TPG Capital and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

Few in the cruise world recognize MISA Investments as the parent company of Viking Cruises. I know I didn’t. But after the deal, 17% of MISA will be owned by Canada’s retirement plan and TPG.

The significance of that is that until now, Viking has been a privately held company, financed primarily by European banks.  The new financing represents Viking’s first institutional equity.

There’s only so far private money can take a cruise line. With the notable exception of MSC Cruises, big cruise companies turn big when they gain access to other people’s money.

The latest example of that was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. It became publicly-held in 2013, but before it went public it benefitted from private equity interest as well.

And TPG Capital was one of two funds (along with Apollo Group) to put money into Norwegian. Their dollars paid off debt and financed new ships at Norwegian, which led to higher cash flows, taking the company to its long-anticipated public offering.

Now TPG could be setting the stage for something similar at Viking.

“Having been a long-time investor in the cruise industry, we see Viking as a market innovator that has reimagined how people explore the world, with an iconic brand and strong product offering that has significant growth potential,” said Paul Hackwell, principal at TPG, in announcing the investment.

Hackwell said he looked forward to working with Viking CEO Torstein Hagen to expand, “both in products offered and regions served.”

TPG once held north of 10% of NCLH, but it has harvested its gains and now holds about 5 million shares, or 2.3% according to a 2016 proxy statement

For his part, Hagen said the new equity “will give us great opportunities to grow further, particularly in destination-focused ocean cruising as well as cruising in Europe for Chinese consumers.”

In short, one of the most interesting stories in cruising just got more interesting.

MSC Cruises North America’s Roberto Fusaro

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MSC Meraviglia
MSC Cruises recently named Roberto Fusaro, long-time manager of its South America division, to be president of MSC Cruises North America after naming the current head, Rick Sasso, as chairman of the division. Fusaro spoke to senior editor Tom Stieghorst about his new position.

Q: Where were you born? Where did you go to school?A: I was born and raised in Argentina, in Buenos Aires. I majored in accounting and I worked on what in the U.S. would be a CPA. I worked at an accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, for a while. And then I transferred to Chicago with that firm and at the same time … I did my MBA at the University of Chicago.

Q: After Arthur Andersen, did you join the cruise industry?

A: Actually, after I left Chicago, I was working for a holding company in Milan. And Costa Crociere was looking for a CFO for a joint venture they were doing in South Florida [in 1993]. The company was called American Family Cruises. … This was my first experience with the cruise industry. I didn’t know about the industry then; I was just a finance guy. Unfortunately, the execution was very poor, so Costa decided to wind down the company after a few months, and they offered for me to go to Genoa [in Italy] to run the revenue-management department. So that’s the way I started my career in the cruise industry.

Q: When you went back to South America, what did you learn when you went to work for MSC?

A: In South America I learned a lot of things. The power of offering a good value to the market. The difficulty of dealing with some government bureaucracies. Perhaps the most instructive thing I learned in South America was the value of a private company. The difference in working for a company like MSC is having the cellphone [number] of the CEO and being able to call him at any time with a proposal, and after two or three questions he’ll give me the green light to go ahead. That was invaluable. I don’t think that MSC would have grown as it did in South America if we had to do a 10-page report to deploy more capacity. The decisions were made very quickly, and the company was very responsive to the needs of the market, and I think that’s what makes MSC different.

Q: What do you think is your strength as a manager?

A: I think my strength is in developing people and helping them to try to get to their full potential. I like to think of myself as a facilitator and company coach. One of my proudest achievements is that any time I left an executive position, my second-in-command took over.

Q: What will be the division of roles between you and Sasso as MSC grows?

A: There will be the usual division of chairman and president. Rick will look after government issues, and I will run the company on a day-to-day basis. I will have the luxury of having such a legend of the industry as a privileged adviser on major issues, but the decisions, good or bad, will be my responsibility.

Q: In the past, MSC has had some favorable terms for travel agents. What can they expect in this area?

A: We’re always going to do what’s best for the business, the company and the partners. We live by our travel agent partners and recognize that they are critical to our success. We won’t be able to get to 5 million passengers without their help. So we will continue to prioritize our partners and make it as easy as possible to work with us
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