Companies have designed a new €20m dining and entertainment venue for its Meraviglia-class ships
By
Rebecca Gibson |
MSC Cruises has partnered with Cirque du Soleil to offer a new combined dining and entertainment experience for guests onboard its Meraviglia-class ships.
Together, MSC and Cirque du Soleil have designed, and started to develop, a 1,000 sqft, €20 million Aft Lounge dining and entertainment venue – the first of its kind at sea. Comprising a 200-seat dining area and an additional 250 seats, the venue will host two exclusive Cirque du Soleil performances per evening, six nights a week. Both shows will be created exclusively for MSC.
“We have found in MSC a long term partner with a clear vision about trends in the cruising industry and a strong desire to be the leader by bringing entertainment on board to a whole new level,” said Yasmine Khalil, president of 45 DEGREES, Cirque du Soleil’s Special Projects Company. “For Cirque du Soleil, this is what inspires us and provides us with a great creative challenge that we require for each new relationship and project that we embark on. ”
Shows and related dining options will only be available onboard MSC’s four next-generation Meraviglia project ships, the first of which – MSC Meraviglia – is to sail her inaugural season in the Mediterranean from June 2017.
“MSC Cruises is a company built on innovation, from the unique, prototype ships we design and build, to the onboard experiences we conceive and create,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises. “Together with our newest world-class partner, Cirque du Soleil, we imagined and are now designing a totally new, live entertainment experience exclusively for our guests; original shows in a multimillion-euro custom-built venue aboard a ship we designed ourselves, down to the last detail. It’s this commitment to innovation, and the vision and creativity that only a family-owned company can apply, that make MSC Cruises so distinct.”