The tourism industry is currently at the peak of its development. Travelers' requests are not limited to simple package tours (including flights, accommodation and insurance), individual tours are widely spread, which are compiled in accordance with the diverse desires of modern travelers.
Cruise tourism refers to water travel. It was believed that trips of this kind (we are talking about ocean liners) can be afforded only by very wealthy people. Currently, the situation has changed. For example, on the new MSC Meraviglia airliner, you can already go swimming in April 2018, the cost will be a little more than 30,000 rubles per person.
Cruise tourism today
This type of travel is the oldest. Today, cruise tourism refers to long voyages, coastal flights from one port to another within the same country, as well as international trips. Around the world there are about 150 sea cruise companies in Greece, Italy, Spain, USA, Denmark, Norway and other countries. The most famous carriers in this type of tourism: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and many others. Most of them are united by the three largest holdings (Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribean, Star Cruises). Every year, experts note an intensive increase in the number of carriers of this kind, as well as the demand for sea cruises.
Most Americans, Germans and British travel. The number of Russian tourists in these statistics is extremely small. This is due to difficulties in obtaining a large number of visas, a long-term flight to the port. Recently, cruise routes oriented to Russian travelers have appeared. European airliners make voyages with a passenger landing approach in St. Petersburg and Sochi.
In our country, tours to the Arctic are practiced on icebreakers, swimming in the northern seas of the Arctic Ocean and around the islands. There are “warm” routes from Sochi to Trabzon (Turkey, by ferry), as well as to Greece, Croatia, Italy via the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles and Aegean.
International cruise travels cover the entire body of water on our planet: the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, sailing around Western and Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii, along the coasts of both the Americas, South Africa, Australia and Oceania, New Zealand.
Modern cruise liners are huge houseboats, which in addition to comfortable cabins have a lot of entertainment: golf courses, water parks, yacht clubs, huge pools, shops, cinema halls. Shipowners are trying to make their offspring brighter, bigger, more interesting, more original. For example, 150 fountains are installed on the MSC Divina cruise ship, and Queen Mary 2 specializes in historical subjects, Allure of Seas surprises its passengers with a real park with spreading trees.
Description and Specifications of MSC Meraviglia
This is a completely new "giant", the brainchild of the STX France shipyard, which was launched in June 2017 and made its first voyage in the northern part of Western Europe. MSC Cruises Corporation plans to produce another such airliner with a displacement of 167 thousand tons in two years. The length of the vessel MSC Meraviglia is 315 m, width - 43 m. This is the largest ship, created using innovative technologies. The bunker airliner belongs to the VISTA MSC CRUISES class and is a truly ultra-modern vessel. Stabilizer stabilizers can minimize the discomfort that travelers experience when the ship is moving. The maximum speed of the MSC Meraviglia is just over 22 knots.
The total number of passengers that Maravilla can accept (translated from Italian is a miracle) is 5,700. The first voyage was successful, numerous travelers made an unforgettable boat trip in a safe, maneuverable, environmentally friendly and the most advanced "giant."
Interior and deck
The first thing that passengers see when stepping on board the ship is a chic double-deck promenade with a ceiling made using the latest technologies. The top of the walking area is a 450 m2 square LED screen that broadcasts fantastic image beauty. Night and day landscapes show the rural flavor of the Mediterranean.
The number of decks on the MSC Meraviglia is 19. They are decorated in accordance with various topics (for example, the Tajmahal, the Acropolis, the Pyramids, the Grand Canyon, etc.). They have cabins, which will be discussed below.
In the center of the ship is a delightful atrium: a piano is surrounded by LED lamps and several musicians are nearby, illuminated metal spirals go up. Right and left, staircases encrusted with Swarovski crystals rise to the upper decks. The transitions between floors have glass railings with illuminating lights. Throughout the design, a high-tech style is traced.
A huge area of the liner houses grocery and souvenir shops, a library, a swimming pool, an outdoor water park and territories with attractions for children and adults, a yacht club, a large number of entertainment centers, a theater, a specially equipped square for performances by the world-famous circus Du Soleil, SPA- complex with a solarium, bars, restaurants and cafes.
Cabin Features
The price level for accommodation starts from 478 ye Cabins on the MSC Meraviglia can be classified into the following categories: Economy (with limited views), Standard (equipped with French balconies), Super Family, Connect cabins (several interconnected ), cabins for people with disabilities, "Suite Exclusive & Family Yacht Club, Aurea" with panoramic views, two-level. In addition, cabins are differentiated into categories, which will be described below.
The interior decoration is made in modern style. Each cabin has comfortable beds with orthopedic mattresses, dressing rooms, tables and chairs, sofas that can be transformed into bunk beds, bathrooms with ultramodern showers, bathrooms, sinks and towels, bathrobes and slippers, perfume compositions.
Catering for tourists
Vacationers can use a variety of restaurants on "Meravilya", payment is made on deposit using electronic multi-function bracelets. It is difficult to list all the numerous eating places. These are themed, luxurious a la carte restaurants, all kinds of bars, cafes and other institutions.
According to reviews of MSC Meraviglia, the food on the liner is not just delicious, but chic and amazing. The delicacies that are served can delight any gourmet in the gastronomic delight. Every day, seafood (mussels, shrimp, lobster, squid), red fish (salmon, trout), various types of meat and poultry (veal, marbled beef, turkey), tropical fruits and vegetables are abundant.
Bars abound in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Delicious cocktails, juices, wines, champagne and much more are offered to passengers. According to reviews of MSC Meraviglia, ice cream and desserts (crepes, chocolate) on the liner are especially tasty.
Entertainment industry
Water rides in the water park bring a lot of fun to children and adults. There are also indoor and outdoor pools, a jacuzzi where you can lie and enjoy the view through panoramic windows. Passengers can visit massage or rejuvenation procedures, a solarium, saunas and baths, an ice room.
For lovers of extreme entertainment, an "open-air rope town" is equipped in which you can climb and climb at high altitude with safety ropes. Passengers of any age enjoy forty-minute performances of the famous circus troupe "Du Soleil", which presents the show specifically for the liner.
Event Programs
To begin with, each tourist is invited to download a special application for a smartphone to plan their leisure on their own. In accordance with their diverse needs, customers on the liner can choose various packages of services.
For example, there is the category "Wellness". Passengers who choose this package can come to dinner at any time convenient for them, use the jacuzzi an unlimited number of times, and take bottled drinking water in the required amount. In addition, a special program evaluates muscle and fat mass, calculates the optimal training system. Wellness passengers receive sportswear as a present. If you choose "Aurea", then the tourist can use the privileges at the exit to the port, a cabin on the top floor, etc. There are other options: Flaxable, Sci-Fi, Bella, etc.
How to brighten up the child's leisure on the MSC Meraviglia cruise ship?
For a long time, children can be left in a club where experienced animators (including Russians) look after them. Here your child will definitely not be bored: entertainment programs, games, competitions, spectacular shows in addition to magnificent swings, carousels, slides and trampolines. Clubs are divided into five age categories so that children are as interested as possible with each other.
From a water park with all kinds of water fun it can be difficult to pick up a child. Children bathe, flop, have fun under various "dousing", "spray". By the way, a special bracelet system allows you to track the movements of the child, so it is impossible to lose him on this miracle liner.
Swimming calendar
Short cruises on the MSC Meraviglia liner (8 days 7 nights) in the Western Mediterranean can be made from September 2017 to April 2018. For example, on September 22, a voyage begins from the port of Barcelona (Spain) with a call to Marseille, Genoa, Naples, Messina, Valletta and back to Barcelona.
In mid-April and May of next year, cruises around Europe are planned (British Isles, Baltic, Scandinavia, Russia, Northern Capitals, Fjords). Travel around the world on the VSC Meraviglia liner can be made in the summer months of 2018.
Cruise tour cost
The minimum price for 8 days of 7 nights on the liner, for example, in November 2017, starts from 484 ye (about 33,000 rubles). This price includes accommodation in the selected cabin category, meals 24 hours a day, all port charges and taxes, additional services. The maximum cost of a round-the-world trip for June - August 2018 is 4,159 ye (about 300,000 rubles).
The price depends on the type of package of free features that can be used throughout the trip. The following categories of cabins are distinguished on the liner:
- Bella - entertainment clubs for children of all ages, gyms, swimming pools, all-inclusive meals (except drinks), etc.
- Fantastica - the same as in the previous category, plus accommodation on higher and more comfortable decks, 24 hour service, additional entertainment and master classes.
- Aurea - respectable cabins on the highest decks with a beautiful view, SPA-complex services, all-inclusive drinks
- Wellness (information is above).
- Yacht Club is the most preferred category. Guests can use their own open deck with a bar, a jacuzzi and a swimming pool, chic cabins on the upper decks in the fore part of the liner, butler and concierge services, an exclusive restaurant, etc.
What things to take with you on a cruise?
It all depends on the preferences of the passenger, but the main part of the wardrobe is casual casual clothing. In respectable restaurants for evening dinner, the audience dresses very decently and elegantly (evening or cocktail dresses for women and formal suits for men), in institutions there is no simple dress code.
Be sure to take a swimsuit, sunblock, moisturizers. If you plan classes in the gym, a training form is useful. Warm clothes may be needed: late in the evening or at night it can be cool on the deck.
How was the starting swim?
The first voyage was more presentation, in addition, the ship had to be moved to another port for subsequent Mediterranean routes. The famous Italian actress Sophia Loren, whom the media called the "godmother" of the liner, wished a happy journey to all the first passengers in French Le Havre.
Further, MSC Meraviglia followed through Genoa and Vigo to Lisbon, then stayed in Barcelona and Marseille. The duration of the trip was 8 days.
Reviews of the first lucky
Most of the travelers were satisfied, this is about 100% of the reviews. There are, of course, individuals to whom "the air conditioner blew heavily and ruined the whole rest" or "the cabin was not new and shiny enough." Such units, the rest of the reviews about the rest on a cruise ship MSC Meraviglia are full of sublime epithets.
Travelers are advised to take care of the free cabins on the cruise ship in advance, it is best to reserve places 6 months before the start of the voyage. Schedule and prices set for about a year.
Tourists who sailed on a liner warn that it can be quite cold in the interior, and shakes at the tail of the ship (on any floor).
After relaxing on the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia, there remains a pleasant nostalgia, I would like to repeat this tour again and again. The unforgettable atmosphere of luxury and comfort reigning on a "sparkling miracle" remains in memory for a lifetime.