MSC Cruises News
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MSC Cruises Has Just Posted the Following:
In a traditional handover ceremony at 11:30 this morning, MSC Cruises officially received its new flagship MSC Splendida from the STX Europe shipyard at Saint-Nazaire (France).
The ceremony involved the lowering of the French flag and that of the shipyard, followed by the raising of the MSC Cruises and Italian flags, to the accompaniment of the French and Italian national anthems. The exchange of flags was followed by the symbolic cutting of a ribbon, the breaking of a bottle of champagne and finally three blasts of the ship's siren.
Attending the ceremony were Jacques Hardelay, General Manager of STX Europe, MSC Cruises owner Gianluigi Aponte, the company's CEO Pierfrancesco Vago, Country Manager Erminio Eschena and the ship's captain Giuliano Bossi. The godmother who cut the ribbon at the ceremony was Rafaela Aponte, wife of Mr Aponte and the true ‘soul' behind every ship in the MSC Cruises fleet, being closely involved in every stage of their construction from the initial design to the selection of colours and materials.
"We are delighted to take delivery of this fabulous new flagship," said MSC Cruises' CEO Pierfrancesco Vago. "Not only is she a pioneering example of environmentally-friendly ship design; but as the tenth ship in the fleet, she also represents an important milestone in MSC Cruises' growth. The 5.5 billion euro investment programme we initiated in 2003 is nearing completion, and we now look forward to the arrival of MSC Magnifica in 2010."
The entrance of MSC Splendida in the MSC Cruises fleet confirms its status as the most modern fleet in the world. She and sister ship MSC Fantasia, christened last December, are the largest ships ever built by a European ship owner. Each of them is 333,3m long, 66.8m tall and can accommodate 3,959 passengers.
From Saint-Nazaire, MSC Splendida will depart on a pre-christening cruise, calling at the Spanish port of Vigo (Monday 6th July), Lisbon (Tuesday 7th), Malaga (Wednesday 8th), Palma (Thursday 9th) and Marseille (Friday 10th) before arriving at the port of Barcelona on Saturday 11th July for the official christening ceremony the following day.
Click here to view the article.
In a traditional handover ceremony at 11:30 this morning, MSC Cruises officially received its new flagship MSC Splendida from the STX Europe shipyard at Saint-Nazaire (France).
The ceremony involved the lowering of the French flag and that of the shipyard, followed by the raising of the MSC Cruises and Italian flags, to the accompaniment of the French and Italian national anthems. The exchange of flags was followed by the symbolic cutting of a ribbon, the breaking of a bottle of champagne and finally three blasts of the ship's siren.
Attending the ceremony were Jacques Hardelay, General Manager of STX Europe, MSC Cruises owner Gianluigi Aponte, the company's CEO Pierfrancesco Vago, Country Manager Erminio Eschena and the ship's captain Giuliano Bossi. The godmother who cut the ribbon at the ceremony was Rafaela Aponte, wife of Mr Aponte and the true ‘soul' behind every ship in the MSC Cruises fleet, being closely involved in every stage of their construction from the initial design to the selection of colours and materials.
"We are delighted to take delivery of this fabulous new flagship," said MSC Cruises' CEO Pierfrancesco Vago. "Not only is she a pioneering example of environmentally-friendly ship design; but as the tenth ship in the fleet, she also represents an important milestone in MSC Cruises' growth. The 5.5 billion euro investment programme we initiated in 2003 is nearing completion, and we now look forward to the arrival of MSC Magnifica in 2010."
The entrance of MSC Splendida in the MSC Cruises fleet confirms its status as the most modern fleet in the world. She and sister ship MSC Fantasia, christened last December, are the largest ships ever built by a European ship owner. Each of them is 333,3m long, 66.8m tall and can accommodate 3,959 passengers.
From Saint-Nazaire, MSC Splendida will depart on a pre-christening cruise, calling at the Spanish port of Vigo (Monday 6th July), Lisbon (Tuesday 7th), Malaga (Wednesday 8th), Palma (Thursday 9th) and Marseille (Friday 10th) before arriving at the port of Barcelona on Saturday 11th July for the official christening ceremony the following day.
Click here to view the article.
