GERMANY. MSC Grandiosa – the newest and most environmentally-advanced vessel from Switzerland-based MSC Cruises – was christened in the port city of Hamburg on Saturday by screen legend Sophia Loren.
The vessel – the 17th in the fleet – takes the retail offer from the cruise line to a new level. “Cruise Retail. Redefined” is how MSC Cruises describes the experience. With 1,200sq m of dedicated retail space, the company also says this is the largest shopping space ever built on a cruise ship. It includes 12 different boutiques and more than 400 brands – with a focus on luxury fashion accessories for the first time in European maritime retailing.
For the christening ceremony, MSC Grandiosa was silhouetted against dazzling blue light installations by renowned artist Michael Batz along the Elbe River. It was juxtaposed with the eye-catching and illuminated Elbphilharmonie concert hall in the Hafen City quarter of Hamburg.
The Saturday extravaganza was the culmination of the cruise line’s largest and longest christening event, spanning four nights. Special guests included celebrities Michelle Hunziker, Jochen Schropp, Annemarie & Wayne Carpendale, Mousse T, and Emma Lanford.
It also marked Sophia Loren’s 15th christening of an MSC Cruises vessel in her role as ‘Godmother’ thanks to the long-established relationship she has with the privately-owned cruise company. Guests onboard then enjoyed a gourmet four-course menu Gala Dinner created by renowned three Michelin starred German chef Harald Wohlfahrt.
Celebrations lasting 27 days
In total, MSC Grandiosa’s series of launch celebrations will span 27 days, eight countries and 11 ports and will engage over 14,000 travel agents from around the world. Among the guests in attendance from the duty free and travel retail business on Saturday night were executives from Gebr Heinemann – a supply partner for a decade; Swarovski; Movado Group; and Infinity & Co. MSC Cruises Head of Retail Adrian Pittaway gave particular thanks to them “for their generous support in making this event truly spectacular”.
Following on from the Hamburg christening, MSC Grandiosa will embark on a grand ports tour, visiting Southampton (UK), Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France) and Genoa (Italy) before commencing her seven-night cruises from 23 November.
Making a retail statement
Onboard, guests have access to a vast array of shopping options housed in the 93m-long Mediterranean Promenade which is covered by an ever-changing curved LED-display dome for most of its length (see the video below). The display is integral to the design of the promenade and offers numerous possible options for showcasing and promoting aspect of the ship’s facilities including retail elements.
The large-scale and largely open-plan Galleria Grandiosa off the promenade is lined with both international brands – and restaurants. The retail offer includes new concepts such as the cruise line’s first ever dedicated luxury offer, Piazza del Lusso, made up of four walk-through boutiques; and Outlet at Sea, a retail space which has the benefit of being able to be quickly remodelled to suite changing routes, itineraries and demographics onboard.
Pittaway commented: “The Outlet at Sea area is designed to be very adaptable and flexible to make it easy to bring pop-up and event retail onto the cruise ship.” He added that another key feature of the shops was to ensure that as many of them as possible had direct views to the water – very much a nod to Sense of Place and keeping the link with the sea – even though that meant loosing space that could be used to merchandise extra products.
Newcomer brands include Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bally in the luxury accessories segment, and Baume & Mercier, Breitling, Pomellato in watches and jewellery. In beauty, prestige makeup from Giorgio Armani, Guerlain and YSL have made their debut, as have Foreo’s tech-based cleansers and facial massagers.
Wearables and sound tech also have the largest assortment of any MSC ship, with all the key brands such as Apple, Beats, Bose and Sony now present.
Logo ranges gain prominence
There are more than 250 exclusive MSC products onboard among which are MSC Grandiosa ship-specific collections including a ‘Launched in Hamburg’ selection ranging across hoodies and baseball caps to tote bags and teddies. And for the first time at sea, MSC Grandiosa features an MSC Foundation shop where purchases go towards the support of coral preservation projects around the world.
Lego gets a major focus thanks to a dedicated children’s area covering 700sq m designed in partnership with the Danish toy company, and with Chicco the Italian manufacturer of children’s clothing and toys.
As well as the vast retail offer, guests have access to 11 dining venues and 20 bars including a new speciality restaurant, HOLA! Tapas Bar by Ramón Freixa; the Jean-Philippe Maury Chocolaterie and Chocolate Bar; and a new French restaurant, L’Atelier Bistrot.
For art lovers, MSC Cruises states: “What is normally admired in the art galleries of the world awaits you for the first time in a two-year exhibition – Degas Danse Dessin – by Parisian artist Edgar Degas.” MSC Grandiosa has 26 original ballet-themed drawings from the celebrated Impressionist in the L’Atelier Bistrot.
“A new standard for sustainability at sea”
MSC Grandiosa also scores well on the environmental front with a design that ensures cleaner air emissions and improved overall performance both at sea and ashore. The ship is equipped with cutting-edge technologies (see table) and sets a new standard for sustainability at sea, according to its owner.
Eleven ships in MSC Cruises’ fleet of 17 are currently equipped for cleaner emissions with hybrid EGCS’s to clean up ship exhausts. The line’s other vessels will be retrofitted with the technology by the end of 2021.
MSC Grandiosa is the first of three Meraviglia-Plus class of ships to join the MSC Cruises fleet. Coming next in 2020 will be MSC Virtuosa and the first LNG-powered World class MSC Europa in 2022. Between 2017 and 2027 MSC Cruises has planned to build a total of 13 environmentally-advanced cruise ships, plus an additional four to operate under a yet-to-be named luxury cruise brand.
From 23rd November, MSC Grandiosa will commence regular seven-night cruises in the Western Mediterranean but in the 2020-21 season the ship will be going to Brazil and South America. “For us, Brazil is as exciting as China,” Pittaway told The Moodie Davitt Report in a recent extended interview. “It is one of our most important and high-potential cruise retail markets in the world.”
