Sophia Loren names new cruise ship
[7th April 2008]
The new cruise liner MSC Poesia has been launched in a star-studded ceremony at the port of Dover attended by Hollywood legend Sophia Loren, Prince and Princess Michael, Andrea Bocelli and KT Tunstall.
The naming ceremony was performed at the stroke of midnight on 5 April by Italian style icon Sophia Loren. "We wanted to offer a unique launching ceremony, something never seen before. In traditional ceremonies, after cutting the ribbon, thousands of people board the ship, the common areas are jammed with people and it puts the ship under stress. Therefore we prefer to offer a real evening on board – actually, quite an extraordinary one - thanks to the presence of world-renowned artists.” explains MSC Cruises CEO, Pierfrancesco Vago.
Acclaimed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and singer songwriter KT Tunstall both performed concerts for the assembled crowd of travel agents and the media. And American artist Brian Olsen, famous for his portraits of famous musicians, painted a life size portrait of Sophia Loren live on stage. Later Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac was at the turntables as guests danced the night away.
Poesia then sailed for her inaugural cruise on 6 April where she will call at Cork, Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Messina and Dubrovnik before arriving in her home port of Venice on 19 April. Throughout the summer Poesia will be based in Venice, departing every Saturday for week long cruises visiting popular cruise destinations in Greece, Turkey and Croatia.
MSC Poesia - meaning 'poetry' in Italian - is sister ship to the MSC Musica and MSC Orchestra. The new cruise ship has 1,275 cabins and is able to accommodate 2,550 guests plus a crew of 987. This winter will see the launch of MSC Fantasia followed next spring by MSC Splendida. In 2010, MSC Magnifica, the fourth ship in the Musica class, will also enter service.
Written by: Nick Purdom
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