“When you grow as fast as we’ve grown — and you have 12 ships and probably soon to be more — you need to have your anchors in emerging markets and in established markets,” said Rick Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises USA.
“North America has been a slow growth. We’ve been here seasonally for nine years now, so now is the time to create a brand presence in the most productive cruise landscape in the world. There’s no reason why MSC should not be a stronger piece of that, so we’re starting with the Divina.”
The Italian cruise line made numerous changes to Divina’s onboard product to appeal to North Americans, adopting a more stringent smoking policy, using English as the primary language, and adding TV channels such as ESPN, CNN and Fox News.
Perhaps the most striking change is training the service staff to become friendlier and more outgoing instead of maintaining the more aloof European service style, said Ken Muskat, senior vice president of sales and marketing for MSC Cruises USA.
Americans like to joke and take photos with their waiters, for example, he said. They expect crew members to greet them with a smile in the hallways.
But MSC Divina isn’t giving up its Italian heritage. The ship has partnered with many legendary Italian brands, including Fiat, which welcomed the ship to Miami with red and white Fiat 500 cars engineered to skim over the water like personal watercraft (photos were published by many major news outlets, including the Miami Herald and Wall Street Journal).
Other Italian brands found throughout the ship include Segafredo coffee, Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread, Venchi gelato, Peroni beer and Disaronno liqueur. The ship also has Eataly, a specialty restaurant serving up authentic Italian dishes.
“We want our guests to feel the spice of Europe while they’re cruising in the Caribbean,” Sasso said. “There’s an Italian sexiness to it.”
Travel agents are key to spreading the word about the Divina. Its first cruise from Miami, a three-nighter, carried about 1,700 travel agents. Hundreds more boarded Thursday in Port Canaveral for a tour and lunch. Muskat said a new agent training program is due out in a couple of weeks.
“There’s been a lot of focus on the evolving product but at the same time, we’re very focused on travel agent training and exposure,” he said. “We want to show the trade we’re here to stay.
