MSC Grandiosa has become the first major cruise ship to set sail in the Mediterranean after a bruising  hiatus brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The departure of the MSC Grandiosa from the Italian port city of Genoa on Sunday (Aug 16) is test for the global cruise industry, which in March was forced to ground ships due to the pandemic.

 

The first guests began embarking MSC Cruises’ flagship yesterday morning, arriving at the cruise terminal according to their allocated time slots and followed the new universal screening procedures according to the company’s own health and safety protocol, which includes a temperature check, medical review of a health questionnaire and an antigen Covid-19 swab test for every guest prior to boarding, said MSC Cruises. 

 

After completing these steps and having received the results of the test while in the terminal, guests that were fit to travel then embarked the ship according to the new health and safety procedures, which includes sanitation of both hand and hold luggage. 

 

All guests received a complimentary MSC for Me wristband, which provides them with contactless options while on board such as opening the cabin or making payments. It will also help to facilitate proximity and contact tracing, if needed. 

 

Additionally, over the past several weeks, all crew members have gone through similarly stringent health screening measures, which included 3 Covid-19 tests in various phases as well as a period of isolation before commencing their duties. Each crew member will then be regularly tested and their health monitored, the cruiseliner said.

 

Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ CEO, commented: “It is a real pleasure for me to be here and sail on board 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 on board through to protected ashore visits.” 

 

Following the embarkation of the new guests today in Civitavecchia, more guests will also embark in the ports of Naples and Palermo and then the ship will call at Valetta in Malta, before returning to Genoa on Sunday. 

 

Along the ship’s itinerary, guests will be able to go ashore to enjoy the different ports of call but only as part of an MSC Cruises shore excursion to enjoy the different ports of call as an added level of protection so that their experience ashore follows the same high standards of health and safety as on board. So today some of the guests will visit Rome, taking in all of the attractions of the “Eternal City”, whilst travelling on sanitised transfers with social distancing in place accompanied by tour guides and drivers who are also adhering to strict health and safety measures.

 

For this initial phase of the restart of operations, the two MSC Cruises ships operating in the Mediterranean – the second being MSC Magnifica in the East Mediterranean - will initially welcome only guests who are residents in Schengen countries for the current summer season, it said. - TradeArabia News Service