Tag Archives: MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises ups its game in China with MSC Splendida

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MSC Splendida in Tunis, Photo Credit Dave Jones

In a substantial boost to its China capacity, MSC Cruises is going to deploy one of its biggest ships there in May 2018. MSC Splendida joins the smaller MSC Lirica, adding the MSC Yacht Club concept and butler service to its China offerings.

The 2009-built MSC Splendida, at 137,936gt, will become one of the largest ships operating in the region. The vessel can carry up to 4,363 passengers in 1,637 staterooms. Some 76% of accommodations have balconies.

MSC Splendida will join MSC Lirica, which has been serving—to great success, MSC Cruises said—the Chinese market since May. The ship recently moved to Tianjin to capture the North China market during the winter season.

Announcing the news in Beijing on Wednesday, MSC Cruises ceo Gianni Onorato said the ship has been one of the most popular in the fleet with Chinese and other Asian passengers cruising the Mediterranean with MSC.

MSC Splendida will undergo significant drydock enhancement in late 2017, ahead of the China deployment, to further improve and customize it for the market.

MSC Splendida also introduces the MSC Yacht Club to the Chinese market. This exclusive ‘ship-within-a-ship’ concept offers privacy, 24-hour butler service, a dedicated concierge reception and priority boarding and disembarkation.

The move would appear to be a direct competitive response to Dream Cruises’ new Genting Dream, which also offers a luxury ship-within-a ship concept, Dream Mansion, served by butlers. That vessel is scheduled to be delivered next month. It will operate from Guangzhou (Nansha) in southern China.

MSC Splendida’s itinerary details are to come, but MSC Cruises said the ship will visit destinations in China, Japan and Korea.

The news closely follows the opening of MSC Cruises’ Shanghai office with its new management and operations team.

MSC pushes back opening of private island in Bahamas

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Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is now scheduled to open in October 2018.

MSC Cruises said the opening of its private island near Bimini, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, will be pushed back 10 months from December 2017 to October 2018.

“As we set out to finalize construction plans for this one-of-a-kind destination, we realized that to ensure the level of quality and attention to details in both infrastructure and services that our guests have rightfully come to expect from MSC Cruises, it was only appropriate to allot a longer time frame,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises.

MSC guests that had been scheduled to visit on calls starting late next year will visit Nassau instead, Vago said.

A groundbreaking ceremony for Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve has been scheduled for Oct. 6, 2016, with the Prime Minister of the Bahamas expected to attend.

MSC Cruises partners with Jean Louis David hair salons

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Hairdresser Jean Louis David has taken over the salons on several MSC Cruises ships, and the brand will be expanded fleetwide under a new partnership agreement.

Jean Louis David, founded in 1961 in Paris, has over 1,000 salons internationally. It will expand to 11 existing MSC ships and to new ships, beginning with the MSC Meraviglia in June 2017.

The first Jean Louis David salons are already open on the MSC Preziosa, MSC Fantasia and MSC Poesia.

MSC’s agreement with Jean Louis David is the latest in a string of partnerships with brands that include Lego, Samsung, Cirque du Soleil and chocolatier Jean Philippe Maury.

Jean Louis David is owned by the Provalliance Group of Paris.