Privately owned, Italian cruise super-brand MSC Cruises is to become the first among popular commercial cruise lines to open a dedicated Canadian brand presence on May 1, 2019.
Expect a 15-member staff roster and dedicated content and pricing for the Canadian marketplace to commence near-imminently in English with French language to follow.
Canadian passengers can already get Canadian dollar rates by packaging their MSC cruise with Sunwing, but there are limitations to such packaging when it comes to advance purchase of drinks packages and the like.
Watch this space for updates on the consumer space!
Canadian Brand presence. So, focused on the cdn traveler? Interesting. Is this like NA coffee chains opening more stores in Asia?
In a way, yes.
It might be better described by looking at the online content, behind the scenes support, and booking infrastructure which already exists or is employed by other businesses among the cruise giants.
Many of these companies have a US HQ in Aventura or Miami, Florida, but may also operate satellite offices or a support staff based regionally.
Canada is a proportionately smaller population and all-too-frequently Canadian travellers get bundled together with the vastly larger community of travellers from the United States, despite having many unique needs and wants.
French language, for example, is really easy to understand as a unique platform feature for the Canadian audience.
Another might be Canadian dollar pricing. This allows passengers to pay a deposit well in advance of their cruise and to relax in the time prior to any final payment. Fluctuations in currency exchange would no longer affect the final real cost of a cruise vacation whereas today that Christmas 2020 cruise you might be planning would have a real-world additional cost if the US dollar climbs against that of Canada.