On April 21st, the unveiling ceremony for the new MSC SeaSide coin took place at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard. Taking advantage of this occasion, the MSC management team revealed the reasons behind their commitment to this innovative cruise ship design.
The
SeaSide concept is attributed to the Italian naval engineer Maurizio Cergol, who has worked his entire career at Fincantieri. In his extensive career, he has built 72 ships, 45 of them cruise ships.
The SeaSide is a state-of-the-art vessel, with traditional components of the best naval architecture.
Even in the first sketches, the SeaSide attempts to solve two problems of modern cruise ships: the relationship between the interior and exterior areas of the ship; and the overall balance of weights or volumes on board.
According to Cergol, his solution is revolutionary, but curiously it recovers many traditional elements of the regular passenger ship.
A Centered Ship:
The first decision was to place the ship's engine in the center (as was traditionally done in shipbuilding), not aft, which is the normal arrangement in modern cruise ships. The result is a better balance of weight and volume, simpler trim, and a technically symmetrical ship from bow to stern. And with less structural stress. Its main consequence is that the funnel is in the center, which shifts the swimming pools to the stern.
Another consequence of the gigantism of cruise ships is that the outdoor space per passenger has been decreasing as their size has increased. Shipowners have reacted in various ways: creating exclusive outdoor areas (MSC Yacht Club), adults-only areas, or even paid outdoor areas.
The MSC SeaSide, as its name suggests, attempts to address this challenge by adding a promenade deck to the sides of the ship, above the lifeboats. Unlike the covered promenades found on legendary ocean liners such as the Rex, the Normandie, or the Queen Mary, this one is open-air, filled with leisure areas, benches, plants, and more.
By narrowing the superstructure and widening the platform above the lifeboats, the size of the promenade has been increased. The renderings show a splendid result. Another classic outdoor area, the aft deck, has also been reclaimed. The SeaSide offers a lido deck with a swimming pool on deck 8, much closer to the sea than usual, complementing the existing pool on the ship's top deck. For Cergol, this is the most extraordinary and innovative feature of the ship, highlighted by two panoramic elevators connecting the two pools.
A wide range of leisure options
. In terms of leisure facilities, the SeaSide offers everything you would expect from a state-of-the-art cruise ship: a theater, a water park, slides, swimming pools (two outdoor and one with a retractable roof), and more.
The forward and aft areas of the MSC SeaSide are dedicated to technical spaces, such as storage areas, kitchens, crew quarters, etc. This means that the cabins and public areas for passengers are located away from sources of vibration and noise, such as the propellers, thrusters, etc., and that the leisure venues are closer to the central atrium. This volume, almost entirely encased in glass and visible from the exterior promenade (which in that area is, of course, made of glass), is located in the center of the ship.
The exterior promenade is a commitment to opening the lower decks of the ship to the sea.
Unlike the Fantasia and Meraviglia classes, the MSC SeaSide has only one main restaurant, which is directly accessible from the atrium on decks 5 and 6. Another new feature of the MSC SeaSide is the proliferation of alternative restaurants (Steakhouse, Seafood, and the first Asian restaurant in the MSC fleet), which are all located in the center of deck 16.
The MSC Yacht Club occupies the forward area of the ship's two highest decks and offers an exclusive lounge, restaurant, and sun deck for its guests.
Vago: “A Winning Design”
In an exclusive interview with CruisesNews, MSC Cruises CEO Pierfrancesco Vago stated that the MSC Seaside is “a highly innovative design, and very comfortable and stable at sea.” He went on to say that “it will be a winning design in the cruise industry.” At the press conference, he indicated that each SeaSide-type ship represents “ten million hours of work,” which translates to “2,000 permanent jobs during the ship's construction, potentially reaching 3,500 workers at peak times.” He also emphasized the MSC Group's commitment to Italy, with an investment in the country in 2014 of over €1.5 billion and 9,000 jobs.
For PierFrancesco Vago, the MSC SeaSide is a winning design in the cruise industry.
However, he declined to commit to confirming the option for the third Seaside ship, “which can be exercised until 2017. It's a prototype, and we have to be cautious.” Regarding the possibility of ordering more ships beyond the existing contract, Vago indicated that “Fincantieri didn't have many slots available either,” to which the CEO of the Italian shipyard, Mr. Bono, replied somewhat ironically that “if MSC confirmed the construction of more ships, they would figure out how and where to build them.” The importance of the MSC Cruises order, which has allowed them to expand their customer base, was not hidden among the executives of the Italian shipyard.
Onorato: “Conquering the American Market.”
MSC Cruises CEO Giani Onorato emphasized that the SeaSide series are “ships that follow the sun,” and focused his remarks on more commercial aspects. He commented on MSC Cruises' ambition “to become one of the leading cruise lines in the North American market, after becoming the number one cruise brand in Europe.” “We want to grow in the world’s largest market,” Onorato stressed.
Onorato revealed that MSC intends to conquer the North American outbound market with ships like the MSC SeaSide.
The MSC SeaSide is the ideal platform for entering the North American market, with its 30,000 square meters of outdoor lounges and over 13,000 square meters of outdoor decks.
Onorato reiterated the importance of the promenade, specifically its glass-enclosed areas, "which allow passengers to see the sea as the captain sees it from the bridge wing during maneuvers."
Finally, the CEO indicated that "MSC had created a destination for this ship, which was also an extension of the ship itself: the MSC Cay Marine Reserve, 60 miles from Miami." This private island in the Bahamas will also allow MSC "to enter the short cruise market from Miami." Both the island and the ship will be completed by the end of 2017.
He also revealed that the second ship in the SeaSide series will debut in the Mediterranean in the summer of 2018.
