Tag Archives: MSC Lirica

The stretching of MSC Sinfonia is underway

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MSC Cruises’ €200m Renaissance Program will see the second ship in drydock for the next 10 weeks as the MSC Sinfonia arrived in Sicily for her stretching.

Fincantieri’s marine engineers will carefully bisect MSC Sinfonia’s hull, after which the two halves of the ships will be slowly drawn apart.

On January 20-21 they will insert a prebuilt 2,200-ton, 24-metre midsection containing 193 extra cabins. Then they will refit and renew much of the ship’s interior, bringing an enhanced sense of comfort and space.

On Jan. 9, the new midsection was floated into the shipyard and hauled into the drydock area where MSC Sinfonia will remain for the duration of her stay.

Once the work is complete and sea trials completed, the larger MSC Sinfonia will weigh anchor from the shipyard on March 25 for Genoa, from where she’ll begin for her maiden cruise to Ajaccio, Barcelona and Marseille.

MSC Sinfonia will feature new purpose-built areas for children created in partnership with Chicco and LEGO,  and a new Baby Club, Mini Club, Young Club and Teens Club. MSC Cruises has also reimagined the onboard dining experiences, keeping the buffet open 20 hours per day and installing fresh new dining spaces, a brand new lounge and an extended restaurant.

The ship’s MSC Aurea Spa will also be enriched with additional massage areas, and a new outdoor spray park will be added on deck 13 – an exciting series of playful water features and jets.

The remainder of the Renaissance Program will progress according to the following schedule:

•    MSC Opera: 2 May to 4 July 2015
•    MSC Lirica: 31 August to 2 November 2015

MSC Cruises currently carries roughly 40,000 guests per day, but by 2022 will double its capacity to 80,000 guests a day – 3.4 million per year – once the Renaissance Programme is completed and the last of seven planned ships is delivered.

 

MSC Cruises to halt ex-UK sailings in 2015

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By Hollie-Rae Merrick 

MSC Cruises to halt ex-UK sailings in 2015MSC Cruises is halting its ex-UK sailings in 2015 as it looks to focus on its fly-cruise Mediterranean offering.

As part of the major refit of Lirica class ships, MSC Opera – currently sailing out of Southampton – will be out of action for part of the summer months in 2015.

The cruise line said this led to a decision to halt ex-UK sailings for a year to focus on fly-cruise capacity out of the UK.

Giles Hawke, executive director for UK, Ireland and Australia, said the line would be introducing new tools to support agents booking fly-cruises with MSC.

He said: “As market leader for Mediterranean cruises it is important that we work to reinforce this position by increasing our fly-cruise capacity, along with improving our ships to include more balcony cabins, more onboard entertainment and additional technological advancements.

“We are considering various charter options and working with our air partners to come up with the best approach to keep up with the current customer demand for fly-cruises direct to the Mediterranean.

“We will also be introducing tools supporting travel agents in order to make the fly-cruise booking process easier than ever.”

In total the Lirica class ships, made up of MSC Armonia, MSC Sinfonia, MSC Opera and MSC Lirica, will be in dry dock for 28 weeks.

In September, the cruise line revealed it was doubling its capacity out of Southampton for this year by sending MSC Magnifica to join Opera for four seven-night cruises.

MSC LIrica refeb. program

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MSC Cruises announced a multi-million euro programme that will involve

all four of its Lirica class ships over the next two years.

The almost €200 million”renaissance programme” has been commissioned from FINCANTIERI in Italy, one of the world’s leading shipbuilding companies, and will be complete by 2015. The “renaissance” of MSC Armonia, MSC Lirica, MSC Sinfonia and MSC Opera will add exciting new entertainment options, technological advancements, extended shops and up to nearly 200 new cabins per ship.

The ships will boast a completely new spray park, with an exhilarating pathway of water features and water cannons. The impressive onboard boutiques will be enhanced with new interiors, more space and an all-new perfumery with display corners dedicated to leading brands, such as Dior, Lancôme and Dolce & Gabbana.

Schedule and key figures

The MSC Lirica renaissance programme will follow the dry dock schedule below:

• MSC Armonia* (2004): 31 August to 17 November 2014
• MSC Sinfonia (2005): 12 January to 16 March 2015
• MSC Opera (2004): 2 May to 4 July 2015
• MSC Lirica (2003): 31 August to 9 November 2015

*We will follow up with an individual letter to those who booked a cruise on MSC Armonia between 31 August and 17 November 2014.

The four Lirica Class ships were built between 2003 and 2005 at the STX yards in Saint-Nazaire, France. They are currently 251 metres long, weigh 60,000 tons and carry 2,069 travellers. After the “renaissance programme”, the ships will be 275 meters long, weigh 65,000 tons and carry 2,680 travellers, boasting 193 additional cabins (plus 59 new cabins for crew members).

Best Regards,

MSC Cruises