Bid for cruise line to christen ship in Malta

The Italian giant cruise line MSC Cruises is being enticed to christen one of its ships in Malta's historic Grand Harbour in 2009.

To this day, MSC Cruises has chosen to launch its entire fleet of eight liners in ports across Italy, however, it plans to break with tradition next year when it christens MSC Fantasia in Barcelona.

In the light of this move, Hamilton Travel, its exclusive general sales agent in Malta, the Viset Consortium, and the Malta Tourism Authority are hoping to lure them to the island.

"If this idea materialises it will mean that the ship's launch will bring about 3,000 journalists and travel agents to Malta to spend two days here, generating publicity for the island," Hamilton Travel's managing director Norman Hamilton said.

Sightseeing tours and familiarisation visits of the island could be organised, showcasing Malta's heritage with a captive audience.

However, Mr Hamilton warned this proposal could be in the balance if there was a repetition of the recent incident when passengers on the MSC Sinfonia were prevented from disembarking after a quay protest earlier this month.

MSC Cruises has quite a presence in Malta and next year it will have brought 96,000 passengers to the island on board the MSC Sinfonia and MSC Rhapsody, with another 24,800 on the MSC Musica, which will make its maiden call to Malta in November this year.

Mr Hamilton was speaking during the christening ceremony of the 92,400-tonne MSC Orchestra, the latest liner in the expanding fleet of MSC Cruises, in Rome's Civitavecchia earlier this month.

The ship was christened by Sophia Loren, Italy's legendary actress and godmother of MSC Cruises, during a lavish evening to mark the made-in-Italy brand.

The spectacular inaugural ceremony included a concert by Rome's symphonic orchestra and choir conducted by Italy's most celebrated conductor Ennio Morricone, playing some of the maestro's famous film scores.

The Italian cruise liner company is going from strength to strength and plans to increase its fleet to 12 liners by 2010. The new flagship, MSC Orchestra, has 1,275 cabins, 85 per cent of which are external (65 per cent have a balcony), plus public areas totalling 22,000 square metres.

Speaking at a press conference on board the liner, MSC Cruises' chief executive Pierre Francesco Vago said the company was working to develop the concept of the La Dolce Vita Club, a six-star, butler service on its future, larger liners.

Asked if larger liners, meant longer queues to relish the boat's amenities, Mr Vago said MSC Cruises believed service was paramount.

"We want to offer five-star service at all given times. If you don't offer that touch of sophistication then it's the end of cruises. Without sounding obnoxious, we are setting a standard never seen before in the cruise market," he said.

Mr Vago stressed the 100-per-cent made-in-Italy seal on board all its ships - from the food, the décor, hospitality and the Italian dolce vita.