Why are the MSC Cruises restructuring after announcing Caribbean and European cruise dates?

One of the most well-known cruise companies in the world announced a restructuring in their UK team last week.

The UK chief of MSC Cruises revealed that they are restructuring their team. The restructuring is put in place to expand the team and let the company grow to its full potential. The Explora Journeys team of MSC Cruises is currently being integrated into the restructured MSC Cruises.

Last Tuesday, the MSC UK chief announced that their flagship Explora Journeys team will be included in the MSC Cruises of the UK and Ireland. MSC Explora is a yet-to-be-launched, luxury cruise line.

The MSC Explora Journeys have already announced their cruising dates for the Caribbean and Europe starting September next year. Apart from regular cruise line features the Explora Journeys have a state of art Rolex boutique onboard the ship which is a first for any cruise ship.

The new Explora Journeys in the UK and Ireland will be under Antonio Paradiso who is the managing director.

The ship will have ocean suites, ocean residences and owners' residences along with butler services. The Explora fleet is made up of six luxurious ships and they completed their sea trials in April. Now they are preparing for their maiden voyage in July 2023.

The ships have the expertise of renowned Italian chef Mauro Uliassi at their disposal to create a one-of-a-kind luxurious menu for the guests and also have celebrity environmentalist Mike Horn as their brand ambassador.

Restructuring to help in cross-selling

By restructuring its team, the MSC Explora cruise section is trying to support its trading partners in the region. This will enhance the cooperation between the travel and cruising communities of the UK and Ireland and the tourism community will greatly benefit from it.

Prior to the event of MSC Euribia's christening, Antonio Paradiso said that this integration with the Explora team would encourage travel agents to sell their cruising options across platforms. He revealed that cross-selling will be greatly enhanced as a result of Explora being part of MSC Cruises in the UK and Ireland.

This would mean that travel agents who are selling Yacht Club features can now also sell Explora cruise bookings. Also, new agents can join the process. However, this merger only means the expansion of the Explora team and will not include any changes in personnel.

What will it mean for the teams?

Explora Journeys will have designated public relations, marketing, sales and contact centre teams. Paradiso will be entrusted with the in-market responsibility for Explora Journeys. He underlined that he will be in charge of both the brands in the UK and Ireland which two entirely different teams will lead.

There's a separate organisation handling the MSC Cruises and another that will handle Explora. That remains unchanged. The only difference will be that new people will be hired for the present Explora team in the next few weeks and months.

Changing towards a Europe-centric outlook

Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago stressed the need of changing the outlook to a more Europe-centred one as they are a European cruise company.

So with this restructuring, they are moving away from the initial approach of highlighting their services as North American products with opportunities in Europe similar to other American companies. Now, it will be a European company giving a European experience as Europeans.

This restructuring will let them discuss and engage with traders and travel agents to create and share energies which can support the trade.

It seems like it's of Europeans for Europeans and by Europeans.

MSC Explora is a class one expedition cruise liner with six ships in the pipeline: the 2023-built MSC Explora 1, Explora 2, Explora 3, Explora 4, Explora 5, and Explora 6. Of this, only Explora 1 is ready for its maiden voyage.