New partnership further enhances guests fine dining experience and adds to the existing partnerships with three internationally acclaimed chefs.

MSC Cruises, the Swiss-based world's largest privately-owned cruise company and market leader in Europe, South America and South Africa, announced a new partnership with celebrated pan-Asian chef and international culinary pioneer, Roy Yamaguchi. The innovative Japanese-American chef will bring his unique fusion of cooking traditions to one of MSC Cruises new next generation ships, MSC Seaside. This latest announcement further demonstrates MSC Cruises' ongoing commitment to international fine dining and adds to the existing partnerships with renowned, award-winning chefs Carlo Cracco and Jean-Phillippe Maury.
 
Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Our heritage lies in the Mediterranean, where a passion for food is a way of life and we seek to bring this to life every day for our guests with fresh, authentic food of the highest quality. The enjoyment of good food plays an integral role in creating unforgettable emotions as well as enabling our guests to discover new cultures and tastes, whilst cruising on our beautiful ships. The four top chefs whom we currently work with were selected as leading global experts in their respective cuisines and each one brings world-class fine dining expertise, elevating the dining experience for our guests to a new level.”
 
Chef Yamaguchi will have a dedicated presence and specialty restaurant onboard MSC Cruises next-generation, MSC Seaside – one of the company's most innovative and revolutionary ships – which will sail year-round from Miami to the Caribbean from December 2017.
 
An international culinary visionary and the creator of Hawaiian fusion cuisine, Yamaguchi intertwines his Japanese heritage with love for the freshest ingredients. He is the founder of 30 Roy's Restaurants, including 28 in the United States and in Guam. His numerous accolades include the prestigious James Beard Award. Yamaguchi has also hosted six seasons of the television show "Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi," seen in more than 60 countries. He has also published four culinary cookbooks.
 
As part of the partnership, Chef Yamaguchi will be personally involved in conceptualising and designing every element of the new pan-Asian restaurant, bringing his creative flair and vision to every single detail of the guest's experience. This includes everything from creating the recipes, menus, selecting chinaware to enhance the dishes, music selection to create the right ambience all the way through to the wine pairings to complement the food and even the choice of the paper stock for the menus.
 
 
Meet Our Other Two Internationally Acclaimed Fine Dining Chefs
Two-star Michelin chef Carlo Cracco is a leader in the new generation of progressive Italian cuisine. He began his professional career in 1986 at “Gualtiero Marchesi”, in Milan, the first Italian restaurant awarded Michelin stars. His eponymous Ristorante Cracco has been listed in the World's 50 Best Restaurants.
MSC Cruises first began collaborating with Chef Cracco in 2013. The relationship has grown since then and he now designs each year special Christmas and New Year menus for all MSC's cruising ships as well as  creating an exclusive recipe for the Gala Dinners, from summer 2016. MSC Cruises is also collaborating with Chef Cracco to design a new cooking experience for the MSC Cruises DOREMI kids clubs, commencing this from summer 2016.
 
French chocolatier and pastry chef Jean-Phillipe Maury was crowned the Best Pastry Chef in France (Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1997) and was a gold medal winner at the World Pastry Team Championship (2002 and 2004).
Maury held the position of Executive Pastry Chef at The Bellagio Hotel Las Vegas in 1998 and then Aria Hotel in 2009. Today, he is managing in partnership with MGM Resorts International his two shops, Jean-Philippe Patisserie, one of which houses the world's tallest and largest chocolate fountain. Last summer, he opened an innovative dessert concept in San Diego, called iDessert.
 
Chef Maury will be tempting guests with his sweet creations, initially this year on MSC Divina currently based year-round in the Caribbean. This will then extend to the rest of the fleet, with new dessert offerings for the ship's buffet, specialty restaurants and the MSC Yacht Club restaurant.
Chef Maury will have a high-profile presence on the next-generation Meraviglia ships, where guests will be able to enjoy a chocolate atelier with an open kitchen as well as sample Maury's specialty pastry and bakery menus. Maury will also work with MSC Cruises to create a gourmet ice cream parlour and crèperie in the impressive indoor promenade on Meraviglia ships.
 
The chef partnerships and other culinary partnerships are part of a broader strategy from MSC Cruises to collaborate with world-class experts who reflect the Company's focus on excellence. The Company seeks to work with global leaders in their field, bringing together MSC Cruises' 300 years of seafaring expertise, dedication to creating unique onboard experiences, commitment to excellence and meticulous attention to detail with the partner's expertise.
 
In addition to the chef partnerships MSC Cruises offers a wide range of speciality restaurants and varied dining options so that guests can discover gourmet highlights of international cuisines. One of these is Eataly, the world's largest Italian marketplace, which currently has a presence onboard MSC Divina, MSC Preziosa and will inspire guests on all Meraviglia next generation ships. Through these marketplaces guests can explore, taste, buy and learn about the finest Italian-inspired Mediterranean cuisines.
 
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CONTACT
Marketing Department MSC Cruises (Australia & New Zealand) Pty Limited
marketing@msccruises.com.au 
02 8076 1019
www.msccruises.com.au

MSC Cruises, part of the MSC Group, is the number one cruise line  in Europe,  South America and South Africa, and sails year-round in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Its seasonal itineraries cover northern Europe, Cuba and the West Indies, South America, Southern Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. MSC Cruises feels a deep responsibility for the environments in which it operates, and was the first company ever to earn the Bureau Veritas "7 Golden Pearls" for superior management and environmental stewardship. In 2009, MSC Cruises began an enduring partnership with UNICEF to support various programmes assisting children worldwide. So far, more than €3m has been collected in voluntary guest donations. MSC Cruises was born in the Mediterranean, and draws inspiration from this heritage to create a unique experience for holidaymakers worldwide. Its fleet comprises 14 modern ships: MSC Preziosa; MSC Divina; MSC Splendida; MSC Fantasia; MSC Magnifica; MSC Poesia; MSC Orchestra; MSC Musica; MSC Sinfonia; MSC Armonia; MSC Opera, MSC Lirica. and the 2 newest ships MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seaside, which are now available for sale. In 2014, MSC Cruises launched a €5.3 billion investment plan through the order of two ships of the Meraviglia generation and two others of the Seaside generation (plus an option for a third) and in February 2016, confirmed the existing options to build a further two Meraviglia Plus ships with an even greater capacity. This means seven new ships will enter MSC Cruises' fleet by 2021, enabling the Company to double its capacity to more than 3.4 million passengers a year.
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