MSC says Dubai-bound World Europa to offer innovation in cruise retail

MSC Cruises has said its new ship, and the largest ever built for the line, MSC World Europa, will deliver a new standard of retail excellence onboard.

According to MSC Cruises, World Europa’s retail spaces will offer a “true innovation” for passengers, with MSC’s first ‘department store at sea’, its first outdoor luxury boutiques and a new sustainable vision for its logo stores.

MSC World Europa will offer three primary retail spaces across the ship’s trio of public decks, in addition to her 33 bars and restaurants, 2,626 cabins and more than 40,000sq m of public space.

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The Deck 6 Shopping Gallery will bring together beauty, fashion, jewellery, watches, sunglasses, technology, food, tobacco and liquor for the first time on a cruise ship, in a ‘department store’ style.

This new department store will lie at the heart of the World Galleria, a massive indoor promenade aboard the ship, similar in style to those found aboard the Meraviglia and Meriviglia-Plus class cruise ships, such as MSC Bellissima and MSC Virtuosa.

“A new retail theatre at the heart of the store will allow the retail cruise director to guide guests through different activities and events, including tastings, learnings and seminars,” explains Adrian Pittaway, Head of Retail for MSC Cruises.

“An industry-first, seamless guest payment system will allow for a truly frictionless guest experience that is completely connected to all other departments, meaning a totally innovative approach to tailored offers, cross promotions, recommendations and incentives,” he added.

Deck 7 will be home to MSC Cruises’ own-brand shopping concept containing the MSC Shop, MSC Hub and MSC Foundation, with the experience designed to capture the essence of MSC brands into different family experiences.

The MSC Shop will be double the size of similar zones on Meraviglia class ships with a reinvented portfolio of products focusing on new designs, sustainability and experiences of MSC World class, with an “exhilarating” new design.

“Outside the front of the store will be a new MSC World Experience space to host various events, seminars, workshops and promotions throughout the cruise, bringing the world of MSC Cruises to life in new and creative ways,” says Pittaway.

“The MSC Foundation shop will further our mission of providing guests a selection of dedicated merchandise to help raise money for good causes and worthy partnerships around the world,” he added.

Deck 8 will feature the Luxury Outdoor Promenade with stores offering watches, jewellery and other accessories. Brands here will include Omega, and they will offer an oceanfront shopping experience, with a double height shopfront, and large open display windows looking out to sea.

Joining the indoor World Galleria promenade will be the outdoor World Promenade, which will be seven decks high and 104-metres long, with the world’s longest dry slide at sea at its aft, similar to the Boardwalk space found aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships.

The ship will also feature a variety of entertainment across several venues from grand-scale theatre productions to immersive performances in the aft lounge, interactive family entertainment in the Luna Park Arena and authentic Bohemian street theatre around the ship.

There will also be a 766sqm family area, the largest on any MSC cruise ship, and a host of leisure spaces, such as seven pools, 13 Jacuzzis, a spa, fitness center, and massive waterpark.

MSC World Europa will be the first LNG-powered vessel in MSC Cruises’ fleet and the most environmentally advanced to date.

She will spend her inaugural cruise season in the Arabian Gulf, cruising roundtrip out of Dubai from December, 2022, to March, 2023, after acting as floating hotel in Doha for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.