MSC Launches It`s ” Renaissance Programme”

MSC have announced that their Lirica Class ships — Armonia, Sinfonia, Opera and Lirica.

Being an Italian cruise line the word Renaissance is very apt. According to Wikipedia Renaissance means:

The Renaissance  Renaissance “re-birth”, Italian : Rinascimento, from rinascere “to be reborn”)was a cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. So 4 of MSC`s older ships are to be reborn!  I like MSC, I `ve sailed on Magnifica, one of their new ships,  and she is  lovely , oozing quality and luxury in the way she has been designed and fitted out.

Magnifica

If it looks like marble it will be marble on these new ships of MSC !

Opera before the Renaissance

The older ships, however, are desperately in  need of a makeover and now they are getting one, and this is the reason Opera will not sail out of Southampton next year.

Some facts and figures:-

The four Lirica Class ships were built between 2003 and 2005 at the STX yards in Saint-Nazaire, France. They are currently 251 metres long, weigh60,000 tons and carry 2,069 travellers. After the “renaissance programme”, the ships will be 275 meters long, weigh 65,000 tons and carry 2,680 travellers, boasting 193 additional cabins (plus 59 new cabins for crew members).

Garden Infinity Pool on MSC Divina

The Renaissance Programme will cost around 200 million euros and will be done at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, one of the world’s leading shipbuilding companies. It will be competed in 2015. There will be  exciting new entertainment options, technological advancements, extended shops as well as nearly 200 new cabins per ship.

All the ships will have a new spray park with an exciting pathway of water features and water cannons. The impressive onboard boutiques will be famous brands like Dior and Dolce and Gabbana and more.

So with a brand new look for the older ships come some lovely new itineraries too. If you haven`t tried MSC before now might be the time to give them a go. Quite often any negative comments about them are because they are not ” British” – well they`re Italian so they can`t possibly be. If you like travelling and love Italy, as I do, then you will love the cosmopolitan and continental atmosphere on board. Why not give them a try ? Excellent prices and free child places all year round ( apart from port taxes and airfares) are another big plus point for MSC.