MSC's Italian style is emphasised throughout the new ship's design, cuisine and service. Onboard highlights include a three-deck waterfall in the central foyer with a piano 'suspended' by means of a transparent crystal floor above a pool of water; a 13,000sq.ft spa/beauty facility offering aerobics, yoga, aromatherapy, thalassotherapy, chromotherapeutic hydro-massage and a purifying Turkish bath; a 7,000sq.ft casino; two restaurants, a Sushi Bar, an a la carte restaurant and a pizza/grill; a Cigar Room, Wine Tasting Bar and Coffee Bar, as well as a 46-foot-long bar in the casino and a Well-being and Fitness Centre Bar; a three-deck theatre that seats 1,240, and a panoramic disco at the ship's stern.
In addition to all of the usual indoor facilities found on a cruise ship, Musica also takes high quality entertainment outdoors. The topside pool area features a live performance area with large video screen for movies and satellite broadcasts. Sound for the area had to be of the highest audio quality and the system also has to withstand the full force of the elements at sea. The choice came down to Community Wet Series as the solution that met both requirements. The choice was made early in the ships design to be able to accommodate the large video screen and sound system within the design and structure of the ship and the appointed AV contractor for the project was Genova-based Mess Engineering.
The main systems utilise the Wet312, a three-way 12-inch system, in combination with the powerful 2 x 15-inch Wet125 subwoofer, both of which feature multi-layer glass composite enclosures. Six Wet312s and four Wet125s are built in to the ships custom designed structure on either side of the main screen. For live performances and events two Wet312s and a Wet125 per side provide a focused stage system and an additional two Wet312s and a Wet125 per side are used for FOH. MC2 T2000 amplifiers drive all three systems with Biamp Nexia processing and wireless control using touch-pad PCs.
In addition to the extreme all-weather reliability of the glass composite enclosures, which have a 15-year warranty on their structural integrity, Wet Series use three-layer Weather-Stop grilles with stainless steel mesh, all-weather inert driver diaphragms and carbon-fibre cones and Environ-Tech treated high power passive crossovers.
(Chris Henry)
