During a time when Caribbean group travel is struggling overall, MSC is one cruise line that seems to have struck gold with its growing line of themed sailings.
For 2010 the company is expanding the theme lineup with more baseball-themed cruises plus new themes running the gamut from polka to Latin music to comedy.
If MSC had a baseball cruise and then did nothing beyond gathering some name players from the past, it would likely fall flat. To keep this from happening, MSC's USA President Rick Sasso regularly meets with former major league pitcher Stan Bahnsen to go over the program and examine what's new and what's working.
"It's always good to have the experts on your side," notes Sasso of Bahnsen who organizes the program, gathering former stars who enjoy mingling with baseball fans.
Sasso adds: "The theme gets the attention, but it's the agents who have been successful making the tie-ins and doing the marketing, whether it be sports or music."
