It was a staircase fit for a diva. In a few hours, Italian icon Sophia Loren would sweep down the curved golden stairway to launch MSC Preziosa in a dazzling quayside ceremony. But for a few moments I stood with £70,000-worth of glittering Swarovski crystals beneath my feet, hundreds and hundreds of them set in the 16 solid glass steps.
These treasured stairs are for the exclusive use of the residents of the MSC Yacht Club, a gated enclave for the residents of just 69 cabins aboard the shiny new megaship. I had been allowed a brief visit before the VIPs moved in to covet the suites with non-stop butlers, pillow menus and Carrara marble bathrooms, see the panoramic view from the Top Sail Lounge and stand enviously by the private swimming pool.
However, I, and the 3,500 other ordinary passengers boarding the ship in Genoa, did have a free run up and down the double staircase in the astonishing five-deck atrium. This one is just as sparkly, packed with colourless crystals, twinkling away night and day. Preziosa means 'precious' in Italian, and preciousness is a running theme throughout the ship.
Each deck is named after a precious (or semi-precious) stone, and the spa menu offers precious mineral therapies such as a malachite anti-ageing body wrap and rhodochrosite-based purifying facials. Glamorous, bejewelled Sophia Loren is the ideal godmother for Preziosa (indeed, she is the godmother to every one of MSC's fleet of 12) because, like the ship, she radiates Italian style and has tremendous international appeal – MSC has passengers from 180 countries. Lovers of Italian food will have a feast. Preziosa has the first two Eataly restaurants at sea.
The Turin-based chain provides the 30-seat Ristorante Italia offering a different set menu each night (for a supplement of £25) and the larger, more casual Eataly Restaurant, with à la carte dishes. Meanwhile, La Locanda wine bar sells pizza by the yard. My advice is don't consume more than 4in, before tackling Vertigo – at 120 yards, the longest waterslide at sea.
Top flight: The super glam Galaxy lounge on Deck 16As you whizz down from Deck 18, you'll swing out over the side of the ship before being spat out in a pool at the bottom. Heart-stopping, but nowhere near as terrifying is the '4D Cinema' ride. Strapped into a shaking chair, I was blasted in the face with cold air while, wearing 3D glasses, I zoomed through canyons on a simulated sci-fi jet. It lasted only five minutes but I had to go straight to the Green Sax Jazz Bar for a glass of prosecco to steady my nerves.
Screen legend Sophia Loren launched MSC PreziosaAnother great place to chill out is in the Galaxy Lounge restaurant and club on Deck 16. Preziosa, which is offering seven-night cruises of the eastern Mediterranean until November, is based in Genoa, and from my balcony cabin on Deck 12 in the stern of the ship I could see over the city's elevated highway right into the formal gardens of 16th Century Palazzo del Principe. Then it was time to go ashore.
Our guided tour by coach and on foot started in the Porto Antico, the old port that was restored by Genoan architect Renzo Piano in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by the city's even more famous son, Christopher Columbus.
A curious clump of white masts called Il Bigo has a lift that encircles one mast, then rises and does a twirl before returning its passengers to the ground.
There is also the Biosphere, a large glass bubble containing a tropical forest – the humid walk-through home of colourful birds, turtles and piranhas. A state-of-the-art dolphinarium with underwater viewing area designed by Piano, now famed for The Shard in London, will also be open from June.
The coach dropped us in spacious Piazza de Ferrari and we walked to the Church of Jesus, where our guide showed us two great works by the Flemish painter Rubens (a favourite of our own Charles I), The Circumcision and The Miracle Of St Ignatius. On the way, I ducked in to the little market in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale and bought a jar of local organic pesto sauce.
Harbour bound: Caroline explored beautiful Genoa, where the MSC Preziosa is basedTurning right at the black-and-white-striped Cathedral of San Lorenzo, we made our way through the narrow streets of the medieval Old Town to the not-quite-so-ancient Strada Nuova, a whole pedestrianised street of Renaissance and Baroque palaces. Inside Palazzo Rosso are beautiful frescoed and gilded ceilings and walls hung with works by Van Dyck, Veronese and Durer, but the highlight of the visit for me was finding the lift up to the roof to a tiny platform with 360-degree views.
More... Retreating to the Tuscan countryside for rural relaxation Read more on cruise holidays here! A taste of the Mediterranean on a cruise along Corsica's magnificent coastI could look down on to the roof of Palazzo Bianco opposite, the higgledy piggledy rooftops of the Old Town, see the tower of San Lorenzo cathedral, snow-capped mountains and, beneath them, precious MSC Preziosa, flanked by two more MSC ships, Opera and Splendida.
Travel factsA seven-night Mediterranean cruise departing from Genoa costs from £399 per person, including full-board accommodation but excluding flights. For further information, call 0844 561 1955 or visit msccruises.co.uk.
