MSC Poesia embarks on inaugural cruise aided by the very latest in Fidelio Cruise software systems  

 

In keeping with MSC Cruises’ tradition, the third vessel in MSC’s “Musica” class was christened by Italian screen legend Sophia Loren, but for the first time the lavish ceremony took place outside Italy, at Dover on the UK’s east coast. Italian opera star Andrea Bocelli and Scottish pop icon KT Tunstall treated diners to two concerts each. Tunstall inspired standing-room-only crowds in the Le Moulin Rouge lounge but Bocelli, joined by soprano Paola Sanguinetti, truly stole the show. VIP attendees included the cruise line’s owner Gianluigi Aponte and his wife, Rafaela Aponte, its chief executive Pierfrancesco Vago and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, representing the British Royal Family.

 

“We are truly delighted that MSC has chosen to adopt so much of our latest software,” declares Fidelio Cruise President Tony Heuer. “Passengers will not realise the sophistication of the systems in constant operation behind the scenes,” he explains, “but these have been designed and built specifically to meet that aim. We are proud to be partners once again with MSC’s Technical Department in our ambition to provide the highest technologies for effective operation and happy passengers which help to generate more repeat business and higher profits.”

 

General Manager MSC Cruises Technical Department, Emilio La Scala concurs. “The systems we have installed on board MSC Poesia are designed to improve the handling of passengers, visitors and crew by enabling faster and more effective processing without risk of breakdown. Although cruise guests may not realise it, the quality of their stay on board will have been significantly enhanced by the added functionality built in to the latest systems. We have been pleased with the Fidelio Cruise systems on board sister vessels MSC Musica and MSC Orchestra,” he says. “But installations on board the MSC Poesia offer even more functionality and will enable us to raise service levels even further. And the Fidelio Cruise systems are fully compliant with all of the latest international regulation.”

 

From the moment passengers embark, they will note the speed, efficiency and friendliness of the SOLAS / ISPS-compliant Check-in procedure. Each guest’s photograph is taken and stored centrally, together with details including name, gender, nationality, birthday and cabin number. A specially-encoded unique passenger card, designed to meet increasingly strict security requirements at the gangway, is then created and issued to each person. This enables them to embark and disembark during the cruise and to make the most of goods and services available on board in the ship’s cashless environment.

 

For operators, the cards provide a means of monitoring the location of all passengers, visitors and crew, both ashore and afloat. The passenger manifest can be automatically generated from the ship’s central database, whilst a permanent and completely accurate record of all personnel, on board or ashore, fully complies with SOLAS regulations. And managers can rely on a real-time track of Souls on Board.

 

MSC Poesia will also benefit from the latest refinements to Fidelio Cruise’s Check-in Module which guarantee that fast and efficient passenger handling can continue during embarkation even if the computer connection between ship and shore is lost. This new off-line functionality enables check-in personnel to continue the embarkation process uninterrupted and without having to resort to time-consuming manual procedures risking the possible loss of data. “The system is designed to work so effectively that embarking passengers would not even notice if any communications issues were to arise whilst they were being checked in,” comments Fidelio Cruise’s Heuer,

 

The Ship’s Property Management System (SPMS) facilitates effective passenger and crew invoicing, with features including recognition of multiple credit cards per passenger or crew member, group invoicing and automatic handling of discounts and gratuities. Financial transactions are managed centrally and real-time monitoring of all charges allows guests to access and review their spending at any time, either at the Front Desk or from their cabins, through the Interactive TV system.

 

MSC Poesia has also been installed with Fidelio Cruise’s Online Credit Card interface which facilitates the transfer of data from ship to shore, ensuring fast and reliable credit card authorisation and settlement. Credit card details are encrypted ensuring that all processing, data transmission and storage of card information is fully compliant with strict rules and regulations set by the Payment Card Industry (PCI). The SPMS, together with other key systems such as the Fleet Management System (FMS), provide MSC fleet managers with complete knowledge of operations on board. FMS also enables sophisticated analysis of cruise passenger demographics, consumer trends and on-board revenue streams, offering managers a powerful new tool to assist in comparisons between ships in a fleet, and different cruises and itineraries.

This, in turn, enables them to fine-tune the goods and services offered on board, thereby helping to improve future revenue streams and identify new marketing opportunities. Meanwhile, the Shore Excursion, Spa and Dining Room management systems all operate through their respective stand-alone modules but are fully integrated with the SPMS and FMS. 

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