It’s been an exciting week for MSC cruises as they mark 100 days until the christening of MSC Bellissima. Due to be christened in Southampton on the 2^nd of March 2019, we will be boarding her on the 4^th of March for her first cruise down to Barcelona – we are so excited!

We’ve spent many hours watching MSC Meraviglia videos, Bellissima’s sister – to get an idea of what the ship will look like.  This week we have seen renderings of what to expect internally as well as a video of Bellissima coming together.

Video by MSC Cruises

We have previously sailed on MSC Preziosa, so we know the MSC brand – their ships are stunning, offer great value for money and MSC will even match your loyalty level with other cruise lines (more about that here), so we wanted to put together the six main things that we are really looking forward to cruising on board MSC Bellissima.

1 – Cirque du Soleil shows

At the top of the list, it has to be Cirque du Soleil.

MSC have an exclusive partnership with Cirque du Soleil and will feature some spectacular shows.  We’ve seen clips of the shows and we are really excited to see this for real.  MSC have announced this week that there will be 2 new shows for MSC Bellissima:

MSC Bellissima will be the second MSC Cruises ship to feature Cirque du Soleil at Sea, with two brand new shows designed exclusively for MSC Cruises guests. The new show concepts will be revealed next month. This long-standing partnership with world-leader in live entertainment, Cirque du Soleil will also see a further four new shows created for sister ships MSC Grandiosa, launching November 2019 and MSC Virtuosa launching in 2020. – MSC Cruises

2 – Zoe

You have heard of Siri and Alexa, but now you have Zoe!  Zoe will be MSC’s personal digital assistant that will be on hand in your room to answer all those questions you may have, in a total of 7 languages! This could be fun!

Guests on board MSC Bellissima will be the first to experience the world’s first digital cruise assistant available in seven languages designed to answer the most commonly asked questions in the comfort of their cabin. Zoe is a voice-enabled Artificial Intelligence device fitted in every cabin and has been custom designed for the cruise experience in partnership with HARMAN International. – MSC Cruises

 

3 – Galleria Bellissima

We’ve never been on a ship with this type of central promenade area, so it will be great to walk along here browsing the shops and hanging out in the bars people watching.  MSC Bellissima will also feature an 80-meter LED dome on the ceiling of the central Promenade so seeing this in use will be epic!

 

MSC Bellissima Virtual Tour

 

4 – Round the clock entertainment

We’re not too sure if the weather will be nice enough in March, but if it is we may have a go on the aqua park which looks fab. The full-size bowling alley, F1 simulator and XD cinema may be a safer and warmer option for us!

MSC Bellissima also boasts a 985 seat theater, with six brand new West-end style shows – it promises to wow guests.

And if none of this takes our fancy, you will find us sipping a cocktail in one of the many bars or partying the night away in the Attic Club.

 

5 – Dining experiences

We do love our food, so we can’t wait to sample the dining experiences onboard.  This week MSC announced a new tapas restaurant concept from Romon Freixa:

Located on deck 6 at the heart of the iconic Mediterranean-style promenade, HOLA! Tapas Bar welcomes you into an amazing culinary experience created by the two Michelin starred chef Ramón Freixa. Designed as a social dining experience where guests can enjoy shared plates and a wonderful celebration of the Mediterranean way of life. Throughout the day, HOLA Tapas Bar is bustling and features a range of delicious dishes and is a mix of tradition and vanguard in a contemporary but warm open space with both communal and individual seating. – MSC Cruises

 

We have already been looking and have our eye on the French bistro – L’Atelier Bistrot, Kaito sushi restaurant and the much talked about Butcher’s Cut steak house.  We won’t go hungry here!

6 – MSC for Me

And finally, reason six is another techy one – MSC for Me. The smart phone app that allows you to make reservations directly from your mobile phone and also pick up useful information such as the daily program detailing what is going on around the ship.

We are not used to on board tech so we find this really exciting and can’t wait to use it to make reservations and generally make our lives easier!

 

So, there are our 6 reasons we cant wait to get on board MSC Bellissima.  We are counting down the days – make sure you follow us as we will be bringing you with us! You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like more information about MSC Cruises, head over to www.msccruises.co.uk.