MSC Cruises announced today that all passengers on its winter cruises will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and also take a COVID-19 test before the embarkation date.
The measures had already been implemented for all of the company's winter cruises in other regions and have now been incorporated into the Mediterranean voyages with the new requirements extending to passengers with an active booking, both on MSC Grandiosa and MSC Fantasia.
Passengers on any of the company's winter itineraries traveling from December 4th onwards must be fully vaccinated. Passengers are considered vaccinated if they have received the full COVID-19 vaccination schedule more than 14 days before the start of their cruise. All passengers must also take a COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before departure.
The measures will apply to all passengers aged 12 and over and are in addition to the existing health and hygiene regulations first introduced by MSC Cruises in the summer of 2020, which now constitute the industry-leading protocol. These measures include an additional COVID-19 test upon embarkation, as well as other measures while at sea, all designed to offer all passengers and crew the highest level of health protection.
Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises, said: “Our health and hygiene protocol has led the way in the industry not only because we were the first major cruise company to resume international operations, but also because of its flexibility to adapt to the evolving pandemic on land.”
“This approach has reassured our passengers, our crew and the inhabitants of the destinations we visit with our ships, seeing how even during a new peak of the pandemic on land we were able to adapt our health and hygiene measures appropriately and continue to offer the highest level of protection to our passengers and crew during the past winter in the Mediterranean,” he added.
Gianni Onorato continued: “Given that some countries in Europe are seeing an increase in infection rates on land, we have reinforced our measures to ensure the well-being of those on board our ships and the inhabitants of the communities we visit, demonstrating once again that health and safety are our number one priority.”
The new measures will now also apply to winter itineraries in the Mediterranean with the MSC Grandiosa and MSC Fantasia ships, in addition to the company's other ships operating in Northern Europe, North America, South America, South Africa and the Middle East.
Any passenger who already has a booking and is not fully vaccinated in time for the departure date can choose to reschedule their holiday with us at a later date or request a refund.
Furthermore, since passengers under the age of 12 are not eligible for vaccination, they will continue to be welcome on board under the current measures.
MSC Grandiosa will depart from Barcelona with 7-night cruises to Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Palermo, and Valletta before returning to Barcelona. Meanwhile, MSC Fantasia, also departing from Barcelona, will visit Marseille, Genoa, La Spezia, Naples, and Palma de Mallorca before its return to Barcelona.
