The MSC Splendida has become the latest MSC Cruises ship to restart summer sailings with her seven-night itinerary to the Eastern Mediterranean from the northern Italian port of Trieste.
Calls are to Ancona, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bari, Italy; the Greek island of Corfu and Kotor in Montenegro or Split in Croatia before the vessel returns to Trieste with embarkation available in each of the Italian ports, according to an MSC press release.
Four daily transfer shuttles for MSC Cruises guests will run from Venice’s Marco Polo airport and one from the city centre to the cruise terminal in Trieste offering a convenient service for embarking guests who have flown to Italy from Europe. Prices per person are Euros €25 one way and Euros €50 return, according to the company.
The MSC Splendida represents the company’s fifth ship to resume cruise holidays this summer. The MSC Grandiosa and MSC Seaside are sailing in the West Mediterranean, the MSC Orchestra is operating in the East Mediterranean and the MSC Virtuosa is cruising in the UK for British guests only.
The MSC Magnifica will resume sailings on June 20 from Italy for voyages in the East Mediterranean, the MSC Seaview will restart on July 3 from Kiel in Germany for sailings in the Baltic Sea to Sweden and Estonia followed by MSC Seashore making her maiden sailing from the end of July in the West Mediterranean.
Two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus during routine checks aboard a Mediterranean cruise this week, MSC Cruises said.
The passengers, who were asymptomatic, got their positive test results on Monday, according to MSC Cruises spokesman Luca Biondolillo. They were not travelling together on the MSC Seaside. Biondolillo said the individuals and their travelling groups, as well as close contacts, were immediately isolated, and no one aside from the original two passengers tested positive.
According to the Times of Malta, the vessel was not allowed to make a regular call-in to Malta’s Valletta cruise port Monday. Instead, Biondolillo said, the ship made a “technical call” — where passengers don’t disembark — and then resumed its regular schedule with a stop in Sicily.
Both passengers and their parties left the ship in Siracusa, on the island of Sicily, and were taken home “by protected MSC Cruises transport” Tuesday, the cruise company said. The ship continued its normal schedule after the Siracusa stop.
“All of this took place in line with the protocol and in coordination with the local health authorities,” Biondolillo said in an email Wednesday.
Passengers on MSC ships are not required to be vaccinated, but they have to undergo several tests: two to three days before leaving for a cruise, just before getting on the ship and midway through the cruise, Biondolillo said.
“If anything, this is another demonstration that the protocol works,” he said.
The company started sailing in the Mediterranean in August 2020 and has seen “a handful such cases” since, Biondolillo said, adding that “many thousands” of passengers have sailed safely.
Cruise ships have slowly started service again around the world, but still have not resumed in the United States since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shut the industry down last March. The agency is not requiring cruise ships to sail with vaccinated passengers but will allow those with at least 95 per cent of vaccinated crew and guests to skip test cruises meant to show how they will deal with covid-19 risks.
The first cruise from U.S. shores with paying passengers is scheduled to set sail later this month. The Celebrity Cruises ship will require everyone 16 and older to be fully vaccinated — a condition that comes into conflict with a Florida law that says businesses can’t ask for proof of vaccination status.
MSC Cruises, which is headquartered in Geneva, announced this week that it plans to start short cruises on MSC Meraviglia from Miami to the Bahamas on Aug. 2. The company recently got approval from the CDC to conduct a test cruise on that vessel.
The company said it will “welcome both vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests,” with those who are not vaccinated subject to additional testing and restrictions. Rubén Rodriguez, president of MSC Cruises USA, said in a statement that he expects the majority of passengers will be vaccinated.
“The rapid distribution of vaccines in the U.S. has been a positive step toward helping vacationers get back to travelling, and we encourage our guests to take advantage of this added layer of protection when resuming travel this summer,” he said.
MSC Cruises has announced new and updated itineraries in the Mediterranean and across Europe for this coming summer with six ships back in operation in the Western and Eastern Mediterranean and four more ships cruising in Northern Europe.
Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said: “Today we have clarity on which European destinations and ports will initially be open this summer and we have fully reflected this into the first set of new and updated itineraries for the upcoming season so that guests can book their holidays with us with confidence. The entire MSC Cruises team and I look forward to welcoming both returning and new guests onboard one of our ships that will be at sea this summer and to provide them with a memorable, relaxing and, above all, safe holiday.
“Plus, I am confident that in the coming weeks we will be able to further enrich some of these itineraries as well as add more ships with new ones, as more ports and tourist destinations, in particular in Spain and France, become available to receive ships and visitors.”
Western Mediterranean
The MSC Grandiosa will initially extend her current seven-night itinerary, calling at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples, Palermo as well as Valletta, Malta. The Spanish ports of Valencia and Barcelona will be added to the ship’s current itinerary as soon as these destinations confirm their availability.
The MSC Seaside will commence sailing on May 1 from Genoa calling at the newly introduced ports of Siracusa in Sicily and Taranto in Puglia, as well as Civitavecchia for Rome and Valetta in Malta. The ship’s itinerary will then be enriched with calls to the French port of Marseille as soon as its availability is confirmed, the company said. In addition to the range of protected excursions developed for MSC Seaside’s itinerary, MSC Cruises will introduce a special private beach experience in Taranto, exclusively for the ship’s guests.
The MSC Seashore will join the MSC Cruises fleet at the end of July, and from August 1 until October 31, offer seven-night cruises calling the Italian ports of Genoa, Naples and Messina, as well as Valletta in Malta, Barcelona in Spain and Marseille in France. After her season in the Mediterranean, MSC Seashore will then arrive in Miami in November 2021 to begin sailing The Bahamas and Caribbean, including stops at MSC Cruises’ private Bahamian destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
Eastern Mediterranean
The MSC Orchestra will now depart on June 5 with embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Saturdays, Bari on Sundays, calling at the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos as well as Dubrovnik in Croatia.
The MSC Splendida will begin sailing from June 12 with embarkation in Trieste, Italy on Saturdays and in Bari on Tuesdays, calling at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu in Greece and Kotor in Montenegro.
The MSC Magnifica will start cruising June 20 offering embarkation in the Italian ports of Venice on Sundays, Bari on Mondays and Piraeus for Athens on Wednesdays and calling at the Greek Island of Mykonos and Split, Croatia.
Northern Europe
The all-new MSC Virtuosa will run inaugural season in the UK and offer mini cruises from Southampton calling at Portland in Dorset. Starting on June 12, the new vessel will operate seven-night cruises from Southampton with embarkation in Liverpool, Greenock for Glasgow and also calling at Portland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. These cruises are designed for British residents only. The sailings are open to vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests and all guests will be tested prior to embarkation.
The MSC Seaview will homeport in Kiel, Germany starting on June 19, replacing the MSC Virtuosa.
The MSC Preziosa is set to cruise from June 21 from Hamburg, Germany and the MSC Musica on June 20 from Warnemunde, Germany, if the German ports are open, MSC announced.
Onorato noted: “We are extremely proud to be in a position to offer our guests and travel agent partners for the coming summer a growing choice of cruise holidays to a range of different destinations across the Mediterranean and Europe. We will be featuring some of our most innovative and more modern vessels in our fleet. And to make it even easier and safer for our guests to reach our ships from closer to their homes, all our itineraries will feature additional ports of embarkation. In the Mediterranean alone, MSC Cruises will offer its guests up to 15 ports of embarkation. MSC Worldclass due 22/23
“Albeit these ships represent only an initial portion of our fleet, they include our two latest jewels, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, both of which will have come into service for the first time in 2021. Their presence in this next phase of the return at sea of our fleet in the coming weeks represents our belief in the continued attractiveness for the consumer of cruises as a holiday option. This is why we have confirmed our plans for new builds for the coming years and are looking forward to a gradual return at some of our full fleet in the coming months into the winter season.
“Guests who have vouchers for our cruises that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic ashore have waited patiently for a level of certainty about which ships will sail and where. I am pleased to say that they can now look forward with confidence to an incredible holiday at sea on an MSC Cruises ship either this summer or over the upcoming winter season.”
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