Page 6 - CIN 2019 European Report
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}EUROPEAN MARKET
The MSC Seaview was delivered in early June.
MSC CRUISES
‘Working All Markets’
Gianni Onorato, CEO of “More modern ships give us the oppor-
MSC Cruises tunity to improve both on ticket and
onboard yields.”
“WE are expanding in all our markets, deploying the new MSC sailings to Canada/New England before transitioning to Miami.
Seaview in South America next winter, adding the Lirica along- While the 3,274-passenger (double occupancy) Splen-
side the Splendida in Dubai and moving from a smaller to a
larger ship in South Africa,” Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC dida has replaced the 1,984-passenger Lirica in China, she is
Cruises, told Cruise Industry News in an exclusive interview. expected to come back to Europe, being replaced by the new
and larger Bellissima, which has some 600 cabins more. To be
“Obviously, we are also growing in the Mediterranean and launched next March, the 171,598-ton, 4,500-passenger Bellis-
Northern Europe,” he added, “and we will have four ships in sima will spend her first year sailing in Europe before moving
the Caribbean for the 2019-2020 season, sailing from Miami, to Shanghai in spring 2020.
another ship in Cuba and one in the French West Indies.”
However, having been named the official cruise line for the
The Meraviglia will also be in New York in 2019 for two fall 2020 Summer Olympic games in Japan, the Lirica will be de-
ployed there for hotel accommodations.
Added Onorato: “So we will in effect have two ships in Asia
in 2020. We are also calling in Japan now and considering the
market for future development.”
Worldwide Presence
MSC is working all markets globally, according to Onorato,
and has almost all nationalities represented among the passen-
gers on its ships.
“We are gearing up in markets we considered tactical be-
fore,” he explained. “Now we look upon them as strategic, like
30 Cruise Industry News: 2019 European Regional Report
