Ideum, an experiential designer of interactive exhibits, has created a world-class wine-tasting experience for the cruise ship MSC Euribia.
The Helios Wine Maker offers nearly 100 wines, accompanied by interactive touch tables that share the story of each wine. The experience has already received excellent reviews from guests, critics, and the partnering cruise line.
MSC Euribia first set sail in June 2023, and travelled to Copenhagen in Denmark for its naming ceremony. The ship offers a mix of facilities which is unique in the MSC fleet, and at launch is the most environmentally advanced cruise ship on the planet. Its first journey from France to Denmark was carbon-neutral, thanks to bio-LNG and the use of the mass balance approach.
Helios Wine Maker
Ideum’s interactive experience offers an open-ended wine-tasting session, with four masterclasses available which have been designed by MSC’s master sommelier.
This is an incredibly personalised experience. Guests can choose between nearly 100 wines at the self-service bar, where the wines are poured from dispensers which line the wall.
Six touch tables have been installed, with two large tables which seat eight, and four tables for two. The masterclasses and the open-ended tastings are available at the large tables, with the tables for two offering the open-ended sessions only. When taking part in open-ended sessions, each place setting can run independently, enabling every guest to tailor their experience to their own preferences.
Alternatively, a group can enjoy a shared experience with a masterclass, or a coordinated open-ended session where they can compare their ratings.
Jacques Van Staden, vice president of food and beverage, MSC Cruises, says: “We are always looking to anticipate the next big thing in food and beverage and with MSC Euribia, we wanted to offer venues that are unlike anything we have ever done before. The same culinary quality and exceptional service that define our offering will remain at the heart of the experience but will be brought to new heights.
“We want to offer our guests something to talk about, something to marvel at and something to remember, long after their cruise has ended. Whether this be through new recipes, venues or engaging storytelling, our food & beverage offering will set your taste buds alight.”
Industry-specific challenges
The interactive tables’ UI uses custom data architecture developed by Ideum. This brings together images from each winery with background stories and a rigorous set of data from the wine information aggregator VINU. The table designs are sophisticated yet sturdy, developed to meet shipboard design requirements. They are fabricated from a tactile and easy-to-clean eco-friendly composite.
Ideum’s installation team, including founder and creative director Jim Spadaccini, installed the tables while the ship was being fit out in France.
Spadaccini says: “We’re honored to have partnered with MSC Cruises to create this new and exciting variation of Ideum’s ongoing development of interactive tasting experiences. While Ideum’s creative team is collectively no stranger to interactive gourmet education, MSC’s food and beverage team introduced us to some industry-specific challenges and perspectives that helped shape MSC Euribia’s one-of-a-kind tasting adventure at the Helios Wine Maker wine bar.
“We’re proud and delighted that our work has been yielding rave reviews from cruise industry critics and shipboard guests, and look forward to further opportunities to develop more exquisite and crowd-pleasing experiences.”
Ideum was recently awarded Diversity Champion of the Year for its work at the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Visitor Center in New Mexico.
