Sophia Loren and the MSC Seaview!

This week I thought I would tell you a little more about the ship I visited in Genoa and the amazing Christening event.
You may remember me telling you about the strikes that very nearly stopped us getting to Genoa for the naming ceremony of the MSC Seaview, it really was touch and go.
It was only for 2 nights and as I had been to the naming of the Anthem of the seas a couple of years ago I knew it was going to be a really big deal.
The atmosphere for a start was really electric the first night on board, it was almost like there was an air of expectancy around the ship, nobody knew what to expect. Our balcony overlooked where the ceremony was to take place and there was a lot of running about happening in the hall that had been built, it was all lit up and we kept having a little nose over the balcony to see what was happening also to see if we could spot any celebrities as we knew there would be a few onboard.

this was the view of the hall over the balcony

It was a really amazing evening and there is something really special about walking down a red carpet on a beautiful warm evening surrounded by the beautiful views of Genoa in the background, the paparazzi were out in force, there were drones flying overhead taking videos and photos and everyone was really happy and smiling, of course, that could have been down to the champagne which flowed freely.

There were a lot of different speeches by dignitaries and the owners, it was really well put together and quite a bit was in English as well. There was a show that had all sorts of things going on from acrobats to dancers, the acrobat bit was a little scary and there were lots of oohs and omgs flying about. Then when the actual naming was about to start the MSC Divina which was docked next to us was just ready to leave for her cruise, she was sailing very close to us with the horns blaring and the lights flashing, everyone was on the deck cheering, we had a very close view of that and it was really quite emotional. It was perfectly timed.

They had Andre Bocelli’s son Matteo singing on stage and what a voice he has,  you could have heard a pin drop, plus a performance by Zucherro made it an unbelievable evening, then came the Christening of the ship.

WOW, Captain Scala escorted Sophia Loren out to begin it all, that lady just oozes class, she is stunning even in her 80s. Ok, she was a little slow and ever such a bit shaky now but you know what? so is my mum who is almost the same age. The captain was very good and helped her cut the ribbon after her speech and the champagne smashed perfectly against the ship ensuring good fortune. The place just erupted and everyone was on their feet clapping and cheering and down came the ticker tape, it covered everyone and the phones and cameras were out and I have never seen such an amazing ceremony ever.

So what do you do after all that excitement, you go to the gala dinner and hit the bars.

Of course, there was also a huge firework display from the ship which must have woke the whole of Genoa and then the concert by Zucherro into the wee small hours.

What an amazing time we all had

I will tell you all about the ship next time.