Tag Archives: MSC Opera

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 maintains market presence and touts return to ex-UK

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By Phil Davies

MSC maintains market presence and touts return to ex-UK MSC Cruises is maintaining capacity in the UK market despite withdrawing departures from Southampton after this year.

The Italian line is concentrating on fly-Med sailings in 2015 with dedicated charter flights to serve five ships from Venice and its two biggest vessels MSC Fantasia and Preziosa sailing year-round from Barcelona and Genoa.

Regional connecting flights will be commissionable at 5%.

But UK, Ireland and Australia executive director Giles Hawke (pictured) does not rule out a return to ex-UK cruises in the future.

Hawke, speaking ahead of the 2015/16 programme going on sale on Wednesday – the earliest date ever – revealed that the company aims to more than triple UK passenger numbers from 60,000 this year to 200,000 by 2017.

He would not be drawn on when or if MSC would return to ex-UK departures, but said there would be eight calls in either Southampton or Dover next year which will allow agents to make ship visits.

“We will more than replace our ex-UK capacity with our fly-Med programme,” he said, indicating that MSC would be the biggest player in the sector in 2015 with departures covering both the western and eastern Mediterranean.

The company has taken 500 pre-registrations from consumers ahead of the on-sale date and expects strong trade support, with early booking offers such as discounts of up to £200 off the brochure price and free cabin upgrades for bookings made between April and June.

Prices lead in at £499 per person based on a seven-night fly-cruise from Barcelona on newest ship MSC Preziosa on December 6, 2015.

Other options include the first ship with upgraded MSC Yacht Club facilities – MSC Splendida – sailing in northern Europe.

Hawke said: “I believe we will return to ex-UK cruising but first we want to build the brand and consumer demand to justify us having one of our biggest ships operating out of Southampton.

“We want to build a brand that the consumer understands and one that commands the kind of prices it deserves.”

MSC Opera is being withdrawn to be stretched in size alongside three other Lirica-class ships following this year’s season of departures from Southampton.

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.