Multimillion-dollar investment to offer its customers exclusively the best in-flight entertainment
MSC Cruises, the world’s largest privately owned cruise line and market leader in Europe, South America, and South Africa, today announced its partnership with Cirque du Soleil, the Quebec-based world-leading artistic entertainment company. For the first time, new Cirque du Soleil shows will be created exclusively for MSC Cruises guests and will premiere aboard the new generation of ships, the Meraviglia. The show will take place in a dedicated dinner theater area designed by MSC Cruises in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.
The agreement was announced in Barcelona, aboard MSC Fantasia, the flagship of MSC Cruises, during the celebration of “All Stars of the Sea”, an annual event organized by MSC Cruises created to thank and reward the best partner companies from around the world.
Exquisite cuisine and an exclusive onboard entertainment experience are two key elements that distinguish the MSC Cruises experience. To elevate these two elements to the highest level, MSC Cruises and Cirque du Soleil have collaborated to design a unique, fully customized dining and entertainment space equipped with cutting-edge technology, making it truly one of a kind. Here, MSC Cruises guests can enjoy exclusive Cirque du Soleil shows six nights a week, with two performances each night, while savoring an extraordinary culinary experience.
This specially designed area, the AFT lounge, marks the first time in the cruise industry that a €20 million investment has been made for this purpose. The lounge,equipped with the latest technology, will perfectly suit the needs of both Cirque du Soleil artists and passengers.
Guests can enjoy dinner or appetizers before the show in this 1,000-square-meter space with 450 seats and capacity for 200 diners. World-class artists from Cirque du Soleil will present two shows created exclusively for MSC Cruises that are sure to captivate travelers' imaginations. The shows and the new dining options will be available on all four of the Meraviglia project's state-of-the-art ships. The first of these, the MSC Meraviglia, is scheduled to make its inaugural Mediterranean cruise in 2017.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises, stated: “MSC Cruises is a company built on innovation, from the prototypes we design and build to the experiences we create and offer on board.” He added: “Together with our new world-class partner, Cirque du Soleil, we have imagined and designed a completely new and exclusive live entertainment experience for our guests; an original show on a multimillion-dollar stage built specifically for a ship that we have created down to the last detail. Innovation, forward-thinking vision, and creativity are three of the key characteristics that distinguish MSC Cruises.”.
Yasmine Khalil, President of 45 GRADOS, Cirque du Soleil's special projects company, commented: “We have found in MSC Cruises a long-term partner with a clear vision of trends in the cruise industry and a strong desire to be a leader in elevating onboard entertainment to a whole new level. For Cirque du Soleil, this is the challenge that inspires us for the great undertaking that this project represents.”.
The first ship to offer this new entertainment option will be the MSC Meraviglia, with a capacity for 5,700 passengers and a gross tonnage of 167,600 GRT, scheduled for delivery in May 2017. It will sail its inaugural season in the Western Mediterranean and will be the first to have three homeports: Genoa, Marseille, and Barcelona. Cruises for the MSC Meraviglia's inaugural season are now on sale and can be booked here or through travel agencies.
