Tag Archives: MSC Magnifica

MSC Cruises Bans Family For Breaking Crucial Coronavirus Safety Rule

Posted on by
Reply
MSC Grandiosa Departs Genoa For First Cruise With New Protocols ...
MSC Grandiosa (closest) and the MSC Magnifica just sticking out.

MSC Cruises has shown just how serious it is about health and safety, removing a family from its ship who broke its coronavirus rules.

The cruise line is operating a select sailing in the Mediterranean aboard its new ship MSC Grandiosa, which was open to residents of Schengen countries only.

The action was taken after a family broke the cruise line’s strict health and safety rules, which included not wandering off on land excursions.

To ensure the safety of passengers, limit contact and manage the spread of the virus, MSC is only allowing guided land excursions. This means passengers stay in a ‘ship bubble’ and don’t come into contact with anyone else not on board the ship.

However, the unnamed passengers decided to break the rules when in Naples, Italy, wandering off from the rest of the group to explore the city on their own.

The passengers were then not allowed to re-embark the ship, for fear of endangering other passengers and crew, the line has confirmed.

World of Cruising Magazine - Grand Designs: On Board MSC Cruises ...
The grand shopping and food courts with the Giant LCD screen ceiling

MSC Grandiosa is the first major ocean ship to sail in the Mediterranean in almost five months, following the coronavirus pandemic.

After approval from the needed ports, MSC Grandiosa set sail on a western Mediterranean cruise on Sunday (16 August), at 70 per cent capacity with 2,500 passengers on board.

The ship left from the Italian port of Genoa on a seven-night sailing calling at Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples, Palermo and Malta.

Sadly, the sailing was not available for British or Irish passengers, instead only open to residents of EU countries.

“In line with our health and safety protocol, developed to ensure the health and wellbeing of our guests, crew and the communities we visit, we had to deny re-embarkation to a family who broke from their shore excursion while visiting Naples, Italy,” said a spokesperson for MSC Cruises.

“By departing from the organised shore excursion, this family broke from the ‘social bubble’ created for them and all other guests, and therefore could not be permitted to re-board the ship.”

The cruise line stated that other health and safety measures include transfers being properly sanitised, social distancing, tour guides and drivers undergoing health screenings and the wearing of PPE.

MSC Grandiosa Departs Genoa For First Cruise With New Protocols

Posted on by
Reply
MSC Grandiosa

The MSC Grandiosa departed Genoa on Sunday night for the start of MSC’s first cruise since it paused operations in March due to COVID-19.

Sailing with trimmed occupancy and 10 per cent of staterooms set aside for isolation, MSC’s flagship will visit Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo and Valletta.

Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ CEO commented: “It is a real pleasure for me to be here and sail onboard the first of our ships to return to service and to be able to welcome back our guests. Our main goal during these last months has been to put in place the right measures that will protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit. But at the same time, we have worked to ensure that we are able to provide our guests with a cruise holiday that they can enjoy and still experience all of the elements that they know and love from entertainment and activities onboard through to protected ashore visits.”

MSC becomes the third big-ship line to restart operations, following TUI Cruises, which restarted from Germany in July, and Dream Cruises, sailing in Taiwan.

In addition, MSC clarified it will only restart operations in the U.S. when the time is right, following approval by the CDC and other relevant authorities across the region in observance of their requirements and guidelines

A second MSC ship, the MSC Magnifica, will debut into operation later this month sailing cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Among health, protocols are universal health screening of guests prior to embarkation that comprises three comprehensive steps: a temperature check, a health questionnaire and a COVID-19 swab test. Depending on the screening results and according to the guest’s medical or travel history, a secondary health screening or testing will take place. Any guest who tests positive displays symptoms or a temperature will be denied boarding.

The ship will also see elevated sanitation and cleaning measures supported by the introduction of new cleaning methods, the use of hospital-grade disinfectant products and the sanitation of the air on board with UV-C light technology that kills 99.97% of microbes.

Ongoing health monitoring will also be conducted throughout the cruise. Guests and crew will have their temperature checked daily either when they return from ashore or at dedicated stations around the ship to monitor the health status of every guest and crew member.

Guests and crew will only go ashore as part of an organized MSC excursion.

MSC Cruises to welcome UK passengers as soon as FCO allows

Posted on by
2

MSC GRANDIOSA, Passenger (Cruise) Ship - Details and current ...

British passengers will be able to board MSC Cruises ships as soon the UK Foreign Office’s advice against all ocean cruising is lifted.

The line’s UK managing director confirmed the plan to Travel Weekly ahead of the line’s resumption of sailings in the Mediterranean from this Sunday.

Currently, only passengers from Europe’s Schengen Area, and Switzerland, can board the sailings.

Flagship MSC Grandiosa will launch seven-night cruises in the Western Med from August 16 and MSC Magnifica seven-night itineraries in the Eastern Med from August 29.

All other cruises in the Mediterranean from August 16 through to October 31 have been cancelled, and cruises departing the US have also been suspended to October 31 in line with cruise association Clia’s recommendation.

Confirming that Brits would be welcome on board as soon as Foreign Office advice against cruising is lifted, Antonio Paradiso said: “As far as I am concerned, that is the only blocker.”