Sorrento saw the birth in 1940 of Gianluigi Aponte, who was to become one of Italy's most important businessmen and founder of the Mediterranean Shipping Company or MSC.
Not many people know that the business was not born as a cruise ship company, but in 1970, this Neapolitan Captain founded a company of carriage of goods by sea that would become the 2nd in the world in volume and movement, and that only in 1988 would be MSC Cruises as a subsidiary of the company.
Many also believe that the base of operations is in Genoa, when really it is in Geneva, Switzerland, from where he rules an empire that already at the end of January 2013 had 442 boats moving 85.107.100 m3 of goods.But once known the origin of the company back to what interests us really, the cruiseships.
Initially, the germ of MSC Crociere was created under the name of Flotta Lauro by the name Achille Lauro, another sorrentine, who was as famous for the generosity to its employees as for being a celebrity of his time and a great politician.
For the people of Tenerife, like me, this name is part of our history, because between January 1982 until the same month in 1983, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife by economic difficulties that at the time had the company.
So the fleet, which at that time also operated with the SS Angelina Lauro, was acquired in 1989 by MSC and renamed StarLauro Crociere, name that apparently brought bad luck since in a short period of time both ships were burned.And like a Phoenix from the ashes, was born the new MSC Crociere, positioned currently as a fourth company of cruise ships worldwide and second in Europe, surpassed only by Carnival, Royal and NCL.
Once retires the MSC Melody, which was the oldest of the fleet, its twelve boats, built in the French shipyards STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, birthplace of the legendary SS Normandie, SS France and the Queen Mary 2, ply the seas forming a company in continuous innovation, but always with elegance and knowledge made under Italian flag.
Boats, as in other companies, are divided into several classes according to their characteristics.Thus in MSC are Lyrical, with the Armonia, Sinfonia, Opera and Lirica; the Music, with the Orchestra, Poesia, Musica and the newly built Magnifica; and the Fantasia class with the boat of the same name, the Splendida, the Divina and the newborn Preziosa.Of all them, the oldest is the Armonía, built in 2001 for Festival cruises as MS European Vision, as well as the Sinfonía for the same company and christened as MS European Star the following year, both purchased by MSC to inaugurate its fleet following the fall of Festival.
As we can see, it is a young and dynamic fleet with ideas and designs fresh and modern. And so young, that the Preziosa already has a history and it has not even been baptized. I tell you: initially, GNMTC (General National Maritime Transport Company), a company owned by the Libyan State, instructed the STX shipyards a boat that would be an exact copy of the Fantasy to become the first exclusive cruise for Arabic passage.
The boat, which was called Phoenicia, would include a giant Aquarium of over 120 tons in its design, in which would swim sharks of all kinds and sizes.The civil war in 2011 made all the project, already advanced, to stop. The complexity of the situation was an opportunity to MSC that made a proposal of EUR 550 million to purchase what is going to be the Preziosa. Like her sisters, she will be registered under the flag of Panama, even being the only one with 100% European capital, since Costa belongs to the American Carnival. Apart from that, MSC is a company that has always looked for the care of the environment and that is why Bureau Veritas has granted it the 6 Golden pearls for the protection of the marine environment, apart from other awards to the best company quality/price by the prestigious magazine, unfortunately disappeared Cruceros y Destinos, or to the best cruiseship to the Splendida by Excellence Awards.
Perhaps because the company has trusted in the Spanish public and therefore more ports of embarkation and landing offered in our country: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Malaga, Vigo, La Coruña, Bilbao, Valencia and Ibiza.
For the people of Tenerife, like me, this name is part of our history, because between January 1982 until the same month in 1983, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife by economic difficulties that at the time had the company.
So the fleet, which at that time also operated with the SS Angelina Lauro, was acquired in 1989 by MSC and renamed StarLauro Crociere, name that apparently brought bad luck since in a short period of time both ships were burned.And like a Phoenix from the ashes, was born the new MSC Crociere, positioned currently as a fourth company of cruise ships worldwide and second in Europe, surpassed only by Carnival, Royal and NCL.
Once retires the MSC Melody, which was the oldest of the fleet, its twelve boats, built in the French shipyards STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, birthplace of the legendary SS Normandie, SS France and the Queen Mary 2, ply the seas forming a company in continuous innovation, but always with elegance and knowledge made under Italian flag.
Boats, as in other companies, are divided into several classes according to their characteristics.Thus in MSC are Lyrical, with the Armonia, Sinfonia, Opera and Lirica; the Music, with the Orchestra, Poesia, Musica and the newly built Magnifica; and the Fantasia class with the boat of the same name, the Splendida, the Divina and the newborn Preziosa.Of all them, the oldest is the Armonía, built in 2001 for Festival cruises as MS European Vision, as well as the Sinfonía for the same company and christened as MS European Star the following year, both purchased by MSC to inaugurate its fleet following the fall of Festival.
As we can see, it is a young and dynamic fleet with ideas and designs fresh and modern. And so young, that the Preziosa already has a history and it has not even been baptized. I tell you: initially, GNMTC (General National Maritime Transport Company), a company owned by the Libyan State, instructed the STX shipyards a boat that would be an exact copy of the Fantasy to become the first exclusive cruise for Arabic passage.
The boat, which was called Phoenicia, would include a giant Aquarium of over 120 tons in its design, in which would swim sharks of all kinds and sizes.The civil war in 2011 made all the project, already advanced, to stop. The complexity of the situation was an opportunity to MSC that made a proposal of EUR 550 million to purchase what is going to be the Preziosa. Like her sisters, she will be registered under the flag of Panama, even being the only one with 100% European capital, since Costa belongs to the American Carnival. Apart from that, MSC is a company that has always looked for the care of the environment and that is why Bureau Veritas has granted it the 6 Golden pearls for the protection of the marine environment, apart from other awards to the best company quality/price by the prestigious magazine, unfortunately disappeared Cruceros y Destinos, or to the best cruiseship to the Splendida by Excellence Awards.
Perhaps because the company has trusted in the Spanish public and therefore more ports of embarkation and landing offered in our country: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Malaga, Vigo, La Coruña, Bilbao, Valencia and Ibiza.
Italiy, always present also with the godmother of all their boats, the unmatched Sofía Loren who asked, before the launch of the MSC Divina, the owner a desire: that the new boat could take the name that would identify her with a Diva. She was granted the desire and more that that, the Royal Suite 16007 is decorated following her taste and has a number of unique pictures of the actress.
Elegance and personalized service are not exclusive of Sofía Loren, MSC offers to the privileged passengers the Aurea Spa, in all their ships with unique and sophisticated treatments. But MSC even goes further with the Yacht Club, an exclusive space in the already elegant boats, decorated with the Italian good taste and the Mediterranean serenity.
There is no doubt that the company has very clear ideas about the product to sell and mostly knows how to sel it.I've traveled twice with them, and of course I look forward to do so in many more occasions, since I have always been pampered and treated like royalty 24 hours a day.
In fact it is the first company I recommend when someone wants something different, classy." Without a doubt, MSC".
Elegance and personalized service are not exclusive of Sofía Loren, MSC offers to the privileged passengers the Aurea Spa, in all their ships with unique and sophisticated treatments. But MSC even goes further with the Yacht Club, an exclusive space in the already elegant boats, decorated with the Italian good taste and the Mediterranean serenity.
There is no doubt that the company has very clear ideas about the product to sell and mostly knows how to sel it.I've traveled twice with them, and of course I look forward to do so in many more occasions, since I have always been pampered and treated like royalty 24 hours a day.
In fact it is the first company I recommend when someone wants something different, classy." Without a doubt, MSC".
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