MSC Cruises has welcomed its first ship to Australia and will showcase the MSC Orchestra to more than 1000 travel agents as it travels from Cairns to Fremantle.
In Sydney overnight, the maiden voyage to Australia was spearheaded by the Gallipoli anniversary charter that will run from Fremantle.
This was the fruition of a six-year ambition for the cruise company and described as “the perfect match”.
“When the opportunity came up for Gallipoli everything fit into place,” MSC Cruises Australia’s managing director Lynne Clarke said.
The ship is currently operating at full capacity with most passengers embarking in Dubai.
MSC Orchestra arrived in Cairns on 13 March before continuing to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle.
Meanwhile, Clarke credited multiple port embarkation points around the Mediterranean with its success in the Australian market.
“We are essentially bringing the ship to client’s European cruise port,” Clarke said.
The majority of Australian passengers take a 14-night MSC sail but the trend is toward longer bookings.
“We are going up to 28 nights as people realise the type of holiday they can have,” Clarke said.
Clarke also discussed MSC’s expansion plans with two Vista ships on order for delivery in 2017 and 2019 that will take 5700 guests.
Then there are two Seaside ships with the first to be delivered in 2017 and the second in 2018.
“The great thing with Seaside is that there will be so much happening around the promenade deck,” Clarke said.
“Passengers can create an experience of what’s important to them. We see this in about 24 hours that people find their little part of the ship. People disperse very well, you don’t really get people huddled,” Clarke added.
Images: MSC Cruises, photographer Andrea Francolini
