Ken Muskat
MSC Cruises' recent disclosure that it would build two 4,900-passenger Meraviglia-Plus class ships was the latest in a string of announcements by the company, which included adding a $200 million private island in the Bahamas and adding Cirque du Soleil theaters to some ships. Ken Muskat, executive vice president of sales, public relations and guest services for MSC Cruises USA, spoke with cruise editor Tom Stieghorst about how Americans should react.
Q: Will Meriviglia-Plus ships sail from North America?
A: I think with those two ships being the last ones to come out, we've got a little bit of time before it's determined where they're going to be. We're obviously very hopeful that North America's going to continue to grow, and with all of these new ships coming out that we will be able to benefit from more than just [the MSC] Seaside, but it's too early to tell.
Q: What's the case for North Americans sailing on MSC ships?
A: We've got three ships that do Northern Europe, we've got nine that are doing the Mediterranean, either eastern or western, and we've got a ton of different embarkation ports. So for Americans to be able to board in Barcelona or Rome or Genoa or Naples or Venice, it offers more choices when it comes to figuring out how [they are] going to get [there by] air and how [they are] going to make the best of [their] vacation.
Q: The first Meraviglia ship debuts next year in Europe. Will Americans be on it?
A: Meraviglia is going to be very appealing to North Americans because, No. 1, it's the newest ship, and Americans always love being first on the newest ship, and No. 2, it is offering a seven-night Med cruise, which is appealing to North Americans, and we're promoting the fact that North Americans can board in either Marseilles, Barcelona or Genoa. And, of course, that ship's going to be the first to have the Cirque du Soleil experience.
Q: Does having a private island raise the appeal of your Miami-based cruises?
A: It will definitely strengthen the appeal of all of the ships in the region, even the two ships that we're going to have this winter visiting Cuba. When we announced that Seaside was coming to Miami, the feedback from travel agents and consumers was "MSC is really serious, between Divina staying year-round and Seaside coming." ... When we announced the private island, it was almost even more exciting because the feedback we got was, "Well, ships move, but private islands don't. So if you're investing $200 million in a 100-year lease in a private island in the Bahamas, you must be serious about having a good number of ships in the area."
Q: MSC launched a global branding effort that's coming to the North American market this summer. What is the theme? What do you want to accomplish with it?
A: We began by doing some focus groups. We learned we do have a number of distinguishing benefits that separate us from other cruise lines. It is what drove the new brand campaign: An MSC cruise is not just any cruise, it's different, whether it's on the entertainment side or the culinary side or the hardware side or the destination side.
Q: Bookings opened for the MSC Seaside at the end of December. How is it going?
A: Incredibly well. I've been quite amazed at how many bookings we've gotten for the Seaside, not only for the winter 2017-18 period, but even for summer 2018.