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NEW YORK - MSC Cruises will expand its presence in
the New York homeport over the coming years, MSC Cruises (USA)
president and CEO Richard E. Sasso told travel agents onboard the
MSC Orchestra for a reception here. It was the Orchestra's and MSC
Cruises' first call on New York, and Sasso said the cruise line
plans many more calls, as it continues to expand the industry's
fastest growing fleet. Next April, the
Orchestra's sister ship MSC Poesia will call on New York during its
trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Europe,
as the Orchestra did these past two days. And in fall 2010, the new
MSC Magnifica will home port in New York for a series of New
England/Canada cruises from Gotham.
Sasso said that long-term, the private, family-owned Italian cruise
line plans a year-round presence in the New York market offering
cruises to the Caribbean, Bermuda and New England and Atlantic
Canada.
The port of New York and the Northeast are natural markets for MSC
Cruises, he added, given the region's history with the great Italian
lines of the past like Sitmar and Homeric.
But, Sasso said, MSC Cruises' appeal goes beyond tradition to its
increasing recognition in the US as a quality brand offering
paramount services and interesting itineraries. As a private
company, he told the agents on the Orchestra, MSC Cruises can
concentrate on providing quality service to please the customer and
not cut back to please Wall Street analysts.
And that goes for the line's relationship with travel agents, said
Sasso, noting that MSC pays commissions on airfares, shore
excursions and spa arrangements, unlike other lines. MSC, he said,
regards commissions as an investment, not as a cost. |
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