MSC Cruises USA Interview with CEO Richard Sasso ~ MSC Divina ~ Popular Cruising Podcast

Not difficult actually, because the ingredients of a great cruise is really the quality. It's the quality of the food, the quality of the service. Obviously the hardware plays an important role, and we have the youngest fleet in the industry and we built some great ships, so that part's not difficult. I think what you want to do is make sure all of the onboard services, the entertainment and the music play and all those things are in line with the demographic and the tastes of the customer. So that was kind of just a study, right? You put it together and you execute, and it's really about the quality.

Well, we really got off to a great start. We had a relationship with Fiat, and so when the ship came into port the first day, it was escorted by these floating Fiats, and that got a lot of buzz, social buzz. But I think more importantly, people wanted more of MSC. Our travel agent partners, particularly, are always looking for something that they can trust. And I think we've proven to them that we are the fastest growing cruise line in the world, that we're privately owned, that we have some extraordinary hardware and product services. So they wanted more of us, and they begged us for years that we should be here more often. So we decided to not only bring hardware like Divina with the Yacht Club, but also keep it here more traditionally around.

Well, competition is always the challenge. I mean, we certainly want to make sure that everyone has a chance to cruise with us, so your marketing is always an important facet of gaining some brand recognition. But the competition is tough. There's a lot of great ships out there and a lot of companies sailing in the Caribbean as well. Where we have a benefit is we've sent a lot of North Americans to Europe on our brand. We have 12 ships, and our European sourcing business from here has really given us a chance to expose the brand. So now they're looking for Caribbean cruises also with MSC. So it's competition, and it's just making sure we're in the right place at the right time for the marketing side. And social media has taken an important role in that. And we really believe that our brand has the attributes that people respect, but also that is probably the best value in cruise vacations today is on MSC.

Yeah, you know, that's the kind of thing you can do when you stay around long enough and you have enough penetration. You're allowed to spend a little more marketing dollars to compete with some of the big guys. But I think what we have done is also tried to partner with people that have brand recognition, like Italy, like Ciro, like Dion, like Nutella. And so when you partner with companies that already have some brand reputation, it allows to kind of elevate yourself as well at the same time. So I think we've done a good job with that. But really, delivering on the promise to our guests is what will make the difference. That people come off the ship and they say, 'Wow, that was a little bit different, a little bit more special, a little bit more quality and very affordable. I'm coming back.' So that's the kind of reputation we're trying to build.

Well, we're just beginning now with the expansion of the Divina coming and the Yacht Club here and year-round service. But that's just the beginning, because we have been a centrally European company for 10 years now, and about 5 years ago we started to invest and market in South America. So now we're the number one brand in South America after 5 years. This is just a beginning for us here. North America is a great fertile ground for cruising. To have a popular brand like MSC as part of that mix is something very important. We think people need that variety. We've just announced recently that we're doubling our sales force size. So that should be a premonition to everyone that we are doing something here starting today that's going to take us through the next 5 to 10 years. So you will probably hear more announcements very soon about more ship building and more ships being deployed in this market.

Well, you know that I love the West Coast. As I told you, my both children went to school in San Diego and had experience there. I have 40 years in the industry with the very popular cruising market. That is certainly Alaska as well. We're certainly going to look at every market in North America. When we bring more ships here, it'll allow us to now extend that reach. And certainly the Northeast and the West Coast are part of that reach. So you'll see that as we grow in the next couple of years.

You know, we can do that. I mean, wines are great, but we think Italian wines are a little bit more special, more heritage, let's say, in that respect. But we're looking forward to expanding our reach in North America dramatically. Canada and the US are going to be main markets for us. As we've demonstrated in other markets in the world, we're also going to see that kind of growth here in North America, and we've already set ourselves up to do that.

Well, you know, nowadays you need some size and some capacity. And we have the youngest fleet, but we also want to make sure that each hardware has enough balcony cabins, that each piece of hardware has enough capacity to make it a worthwhile investment to sell wherever they sell. So the Renaissance program will stretch the four Lirica class ships to add another 190 plus cabins, more public spaces, more crew area, more open deck space. So that's just a way for us to take advantage of those ships. By the way, the advantage of those ships is that they are small. We have a mix of four Lirica class ships that are now going to be about 2,000 passengers, four Musica class vessels that are about 2,500 passengers, and then four Fantasia class that have the Yacht Club and the 3,500. So that's the right size: 2,000 and above. Anything smaller than that makes it a little difficult to penetrate a market. You need to have some capacity when you penetrate a market. So even with one ship, 2,000 is a number you'd like to have when you start to explore around the world.

No. The Yacht Club will be on the existing four ships and any new future builds. It's very difficult to duplicate what we've done with Yacht Club on a retrofit. It's very difficult because it is the purest execution of a ship within a ship, and you have to almost do that from design and construction. So the Yacht Club is something special, and it will be on those four that we have now and certainly all our new builds that will be announced soon.

Well, you know, it's all about market penetration and brand awareness. So I think when we start to get our feet on the ground in North America with ships like the Divina, we're going to see more popular, more attraction to MSC. And that's a global benefit because again, we send a lot of people from North America to our Med cruises. We're going to be sending them to South America, to South Africa, and eventually to Asia as well. So we are a worldwide brand, and I think that requires us to have a worldwide presence. In North America, North America is the most, as I said, the fertile cruise line ground. So we need to now start putting our anchors in the ground a little more firmly here. And that's what we've done. And I think you're going to see an enormous kind of expansion from that. And North Americans will come to recognize MSC as a high premium quality brand that they can trust and that they'd want to cruise on.

You, Jason, it's a pleasure. Thank you.