MSC Cruises USA’s Rick Sasso

By Tom Stieghorst

Rick Sasso was appointed president of MSC Cruises USA in 2004. Earlier this month he spoke about MSC and its 3,502-passenger MSC Divina’s year-round presence in North America with cruise editor Tom Stieghorst.

Q: Can the importance to MSC of homeporting Divina in Miami be overstated?

A: We’ve been gearing up for this for about a decade now as we started to introduce ships during the winter season only. Now we’ve made that decision to position our strongest hardware, a remarkable ship, and she’ll be very competitive here in this market.

Q: How have agents reacted to the Divina?

A: We’ve just recently concluded an advisory board meeting, which represents about 80% of the cruise traffic that gets produced here in North America, and these very select, high-profile sellers of travel are very enthusiastic with us. They have offered their fullest support knowing that we’re bringing such a magnificent ship and we’re going to be here with some continuity.

Q: What type of agents are you focusing on the most?

A: You have to have more than one front. You have to make sure you’re with the online producers, because that’s what the consumers are using very frequently to search for cruises, to book cruises. So you have to have your hand very tight on the big online guys. But there’s also a lot of opportunity in the group arena and the retail arena. We have done a good job penetrating the likely producers of groups and those who are looking for magnificent ships in the premium-plus category, and even those who want a luxury component, because we have Yacht Club on the Divina, as we do on the other three ships that also feature the Yacht Club. So I think we’re now able to set up a little more penetration for those who are looking for a very high-quality product.

Q: Agents say they have to focus their business, and that means selling the cruise lines that have a big presence in North America. Your response?

A: I don’t think that’s something unusual. When you have the gorillas in the marketplace that have dozens of ships in one marketplace like North America year-round, there’s certainly a lot activity going on and a lot of relationships. But we offer an extraordinary alternative, because we are a serious group of managers, there’s incredible talent in our organization, so they like working with people they can trust. They also know that we are growing, that we have a presence in Europe, we’re the No. 1 cruise line in the Mediterranean in Europe. And that alone is a lot of source [business] in North America that’s going on for those products.

Q: A travel agent said, “I did send some of my clients over on MSC and they came back and said, ‘This isn’t our cup of tea.'”

A: I think that was probably very, very true three years ago, not so true two years ago and a lot less a year ago, and today we have taken the steps to actually re-engineer the product. So there’s very few places to smoke on board. There is a very strong emphasis on all the culinary items that an American would want, whether they’re cruising in Europe or cruising in the Caribbean. We’ve super-trained our crew in fluent English, there is an abundance of TV channels in the cabins, and we really take quality and service as a main priority now.

So I think we are a different cruise line than we were 12 months ago, and if you have some comments of a historical perspective, they can now start seeing the new MSC. And [after] Divina comes on Nov. 20, people are going to start talking about that

UPDATED: Blasts rock finish line at Boston Marathon

By Danny King

Two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line killed at least three people and injured more than 100 people Monday afternoon.

The blasts took place at about 2:50 p.m. Eastern time about 200 feet apart on downtown Boston’s Boylston Street. Federal authorities have been brought to the city to lead the investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

“It is a criminal investigation that is a potential terrorist investigation,” said FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers in a press conference broadcast Monday evening.

Additionally, a fire or explosion took place at Boston’s John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at about 4:15 p.m., though the Boston Police Department said that incident may have been a fire and may not have been related to the first two explosions. No one was injured in that incident.

Many of the blocks surrounding the blast site will be on lockdown through at least Tuesday as federal, state and local investigators canvas the area for additional information, while law enforcement will be conducting random searches on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway lines, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said during the press conference.

Both the 212-room Lenox Hotel and the 148-room Mandarin Oriental Boston, which are about a half-block and one block west of the finish line, respectively, were evacuated and closed by the Boston Police Department until further notice.

Mandarin Oriental spokeswoman Danielle DeVoe said that no injuries occurred at that hotel.

Additionally, the Fairmont Copley Plaza, which is about a block-and-a-half east of the explosions, is only letting guests and hotel employees into the building, the 383-room hotel said on its Facebook page.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restricted air space over downtown Boston.

In Washington, Pennsylvania Avenue in the vicinity of the White House was evacuated and closed to pedestrians and vehicles on Monday afternoon as a precaution.

“We will find out who did this. We’ll find out why they did this,” President Barack Obama said in a briefing. “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”