MSC Cruises, following its lead in Italy and the UK, has become the first cruise line to offer international cruises from a Spanish port. Barcelona welcomed the MSC Grandiosa yesterday at 6:00 a.m. with approximately 2,500 passengers on board, nearly 50% of its capacity. Around 500 passengers, almost all Spanish, boarded in Barcelona, without exceeding the 70% capacity limit due to coronavirus restrictions. During July, the ship will depart weekly from Barcelona, sailing along the coasts of Italy and Malta before returning to the Catalan capital. In August, it will also call at the city of Valencia.
Simultaneously with the MSC Grandiosa's port call, MSC Cruises and the Port of Barcelona held a joint press conference. At the conference, Carla Salvadó, Deputy Director of Sales and Marketing, emphasized the time that had passed since the last port call, a period dedicated to "working hard to bring cruises back to Barcelona," and adding that this time "has also been used to improve our infrastructure." The Port's director also highlighted the collaborative work with health authorities, terminals, and cruise lines to develop protocols that inspire confidence in cruise passengers. She also indicated that all European-based cruise lines will begin their return to Barcelona in the coming weeks, and that American-based cruise lines will follow at the end of the summer.
Fernando Pacheco, Managing Director of MSC Cruises in Spain, emphasized that “it had been 14 months of intense work until June 26th to achieve the return of cruises to Spain and Barcelona.” He stressed MSC's confidence in the cruise industry, noting that they have not canceled any new ship construction, so “MSC Cruises will have a fleet of 29 ships in 2029,” including its new luxury subsidiary, Explora. He also thanked the Port of Barcelona for facilitating the resumption of operations at its docks.
Fernando Pacheco: “We have suffered a lot, but we have come out stronger.”.
According to Pacheco, interest in cruises skyrocketed after June 7, the date on which the government began allowing international cruise ships to dock in Spain. Thanks to this surge, MSC Cruises is currently seeing similar booking figures for cruises departing from Spanish ports to those of the same period in 2019: “We are very confident. We believe the ships will operate at their limited maximum occupancy.” He noted that many cruise vouchers booked for 2020 are being converted into new bookings for 2021. The pace of bookings “is holding steady and even growing week by week.”
Fernando Pacheco emphasized MSC Cruises' extensive experience with COVID-19 protocols, which have allowed them to transport over 100,000 cruise passengers since September 2020 without any significant incidents. Pacheco assured that the company follows a protocol to guarantee the "safety and health" of its customers in the face of COVID-19. This protocol begins with a mandatory antigen test 48 hours before departure, followed by another test before boarding, daily temperature checks on board, and concludes with a final antigen test 48 hours before disembarkation. If any passenger presents symptoms, they are retested, and if the result is positive, they are quarantined in a cabin until disembarking at the next port. They are then taken to a hospital or a hotel for quarantine, depending on their individual circumstances. MSC Cruises provides all passengers with COVID-19 insurance, which covers all expenses should they test positive during the cruise.
In addition, passengers wear a bracelet so they can be geolocated and their direct contacts can be traced if any of them develop symptoms: "These bracelets allow us, if the passenger tests positive in a new antigen test, to know who they have been in contact with and thus trace other contacts.".
If passengers wish to go ashore during a port of call, they must book a "bubble" excursion. These excursions take place in areas reserved exclusively for cruise passengers, or are scenic tours from coaches, which are thoroughly sanitized. Guides and drivers must also undergo an antigen test before picking up passengers. 70% of cruise passengers book optional excursions.
The new boarding process in Barcelona:
- Terminal arrival.
- Check before entering the building: antigen test 48 hours/vaccination and signing of Covid-19 declaration.
- Security checkpoint.
- Staying in the waiting room while waiting for your turn
- Antigen testing is now available. The arrivals area of Terminal A has been designated for this purpose.
- Check-in. Includes a second antigen test check 48 hours later.
- Staying in the waiting room while waiting for your turn
- Boarding by groups on the ship.
- Security and temperature check on the layover, just as you board.
The process went smoothly, considering it was the first embarkation. It remains to be seen whether the desired pace can be maintained with the 1,000 passengers per departure that MSC Cruises expects to embark in August.
