Oliviero Morelli, president of MSC Cruises in Japan and Mary Bond, group portfolio director, Seatrade Cruise onboard MSC World Europa in Doha earlier this week
The news that Japan will begin allowing international cruise calls to resume could not have come at a better time for Oliviero Morelli, president of MSC Cruises in Japan.
‘We have been talking with the authorities on a weekly basis about resumption since international cruising stopped in early 2020,’ he told Seatrade onboard MSC World Europa in Doha earlier this week.
Japan’s transport and tourism minister, Tetsuo Saito, said earlier this week that the country will begin allowing international cruise calls to resume.
Accompanying Morelli on the trip from Japan to see MSC Cruises’ [then] newest ship were ten of the company’s top performing travel agents and two travel writers; ‘we are all so happy to be back on a cruise ship, meeting with colleagues and we can’t wait to resume cruises from Japan again,’ he told Seatrade.
‘For many of our travel partners in Japan it is the first ship naming in three years,’ he commented.
In 2019, MSC Bellissima started year-round cruising from Yokohama on seven and nine round trips. Then covid struck and Japan closed to cruising, apart from on-off sailings throughout the past two and a half years by the domestic fleet.
MSC Bellissima was scheduled to start cruises from Yokohama on April 21 this year but they did not happen.
‘The Japanese love holidays and they love travelling within Japan. In 2019, one million Japanese took a holiday at home, many going three times a year,’ shared Morelli who has lived and worked in Japan for MSC for the past nine years.
Describing how MSC Cruises’ Japan operation ran then, Morelli outlined a typical day at sea starting with traditional exercises and Radio Taiso workout between 6.00-8.00am for guests of all ages followed by breakfast of rice, fish and miso soup.
‘In the day ashore Japanese passengers are quite active enjoying walking, hiking and sight-seeing. In the evenings they love entertainment with the most popular draw being Rakugo – the traditional art of comic storytelling. They also love educational talks on far ranging subjects covering subjects like cooking, cars and gardening. The guests often go to bed early so late night the ship is usually quiet,’ he mused.
Multigenerational cruising is very popular as well as Joshi Tabi or Japanese women travellers, he added.
Pre pandemic cruising around Japan, accounted for around 50% of MSC’s locally sourced market whilst further afield, fly cruises were also popular with the Meditearranean being Japenese guests favourite destination.
MSC Lyria first visited Japan on transit calls from its China homeporting operation in 2016. In 2018, MSC Splendida embarked cruises from Japan and in 2019 visited Japan on transit calls.
Now that international cruising is looking like it will be back next year, Morelli and his travel agent partners have a lot to be optimistic about.
. . (UK) Limited.
