According to CLIA's 2020 report, 44% of new-build ships will rely on LNG fuel and all new builds will have advanced wastewater treatment systems. Overall, there is an industry-wide $22bn investment in the development of new energy-efficient technology.

Vago explained that last year the entire fleet’s carbon emissions were reduced by 29% and by 2030 that figure will be 40%. This is in line with CLIA’s projections in its 2020 report.

The company is also pushing forward on a plastics elimination programme cutting out all single-use plastic shopping bags, spoons, glasses and stirrers, where sustainable substitutes are available.

“There is no Planet B,” he concluded, stressing the company’s serious commitment to sustainability.

To explore how passengers of the future would be cruising, MSC Cruises created a report, The Future Guest Experience, with The Future Laboratory. Personalisation, it states, will be essential, with people experiencing 4,800 device interactions every day (around one every 18 seconds). “Data ID Wallets” are another crucial factor, which will enable companies to learn more about passenger behaviour and their needs. 

MSC for Me, the company’s innovative multi-channel digital platform, facilitates blue-spot digital wayfinding onboard Grandiosa (on new-build ships since 2017), as well as a chat, a WhatsApp-like service and friends and family locators (with wearable bracelets). Digital planners and theatre reservations can be made through the MSC for Me app as usual.

The report also notes that “80% of consumers believe that voice control will soon become part of daily life” and that 66% believe “digital assistants save them time”. With ZOE, the world’s first voice assistant on a cruise ship, on Bellissima and now Grandiosa, MSC Cruises have already put an AI voice-enabled system in place. Communicating in seven different languages, recognising more than 30 accents and after analysing 2.2 million questions during development, ZOE is now able to answer 850 questions - 50 more than when it was launched on Bellissima.

Pronzati says that on the lead up to the launch of MSC Grandiosa the biggest challenge for his team has been working on Zoe.

“We have been working not only to improve the performances but also to consolidate and stabilise all the infrastructure related to Zoe,” explains Pronzati, adding that they can now check a speaker without needing to visit the stateroom. “We can see each status of the speaker and monitor if there is a problem,” he says. 

Another area covered in the report places great importance on future dining trends. On MSC Grandiosa 15,000 meals are made each day and there are five main restaurants (Il Campo, La Perle Grise, La Perla Grigia, Purple Crab and La Loggia) as well as the vast 3,650m² Marketplace Buffet, which offers a wide variety of high-quality food that also meets many food preference needs. 

During the pre-inaugural sailing to Le Havre, we dined at the Purple Crab restaurant and were genuinely impressed at how the staff were aware of food intolerances or allergies of a passenger, asking them directly about it just after they sat down at the table and before the passenger mentioned anything. 

The additional space of the Meraviglia-Plus class ship also facilitates a variety of retail stores on board. There are 12 boutiques spread across 1,200m² of space, but for the first time on Grandiosa there is a shop on board, La Galleria, that sells not only luxury items, but also toiletries, snacks and headphones – a welcome and long-needed addition to MSC’s retail offering.

Another area covered in the report places great importance on future dining trends. On MSC Grandiosa 15,000 meals are made each day and there are five main restaurants (Il Campo, La Perle Grise, La Perla Grigia, Purple Crab and La Loggia) as well as the vast 3,650m² Marketplace Buffet, which offers a wide variety of high-quality food that also meets many food preference needs.