MSC Grandiosa became the first ship from the MSC Cruises fleet to welcome guests back.
The first guests began embarking MSC Cruises’ flagship in the port of Genoa in Italy on Sunday.
They arrived at the cruise terminal according to their allocated time slots and followed the new universal screening procedures according to the company’s 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 before boarding.
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 whilst on board such as opening the cabin, making payments and will also help to facilitate proximity and contact tracing if needed.
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.
MSC Cruises’ CEO Gianni Onorato said their 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 they visit.
"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," he said.
Following the embarkation of the new guests Civitavecchia on Monday, 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.
For this initial phase of the restart of operations, the two MSC Cruises including MSC Magnifica will operate in the Mediterranean for the current summer season. It will only welcome guests who are residents in Schengen countries.