MSC Cruises’ flagship MSC Grandiosa resumed her weekly cruise operations with passengers on Sunday 24 January. MSC Grandiosa departed last night from the port of Genoa in Italy to resume its regular 7-night cruises in the Mediterranean after a short pause of operations during the holiday period. The return of MSC Grandiosa represents a glimmer of hope to the cruise sector, with voyages taking place under the strict health & safety protocols which have proven that cruises can be done in a safe environment.

Following the latest decree issued by the Italian government and after upgrading sanitary measures, the MSC Grandiosa will resume its scheduled weekly itineraries departing each Sunday from Genoa,  calling at the Italian ports of Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo and Valletta in Malta. Boarding will be available from all ports in Italy. 

The latest decree authorized the resumption of cruises under a single health and safety protocol that had been previously developed and approved by the Italian health, transport and safety authorities. 

And we’re back (again) @MSCCruisesUSA #MSCGrandiosa departed today with guests from #Genoa #WeAreCruise photo credit Daniele di Maria pic.twitter.com/GzSG3G3kGE

— Ken Muskat (@KenMuskat) January 24, 2021

MSC Grandiosa was the first ship in the MSC Cruises fleet to resume sailings back in August 2020. Shortly after MSC Magnifica was back in operation with Eastern Mediterranean voyages. After the change in rules by the Italian government, MSC Cruises temporarily suspended voyages over the Christmas period. Since then, MSC Cruises has safely welcomed more than 30,000 guests aboard its two ships based in Italy.

“We are aware that the eyes of the world - especially those of the tourism sector, continue to be focused on Italy. A country that was the first to restart the tourism sector, which at the national level is worth 14 billion euros and generates employment for 120,000 people, thus representing an important driving force for other sectors that are currently still at a standstill ", said Leonardo Massa , Managing Director of MSC Cruises.

MSC Cruises' health and safety protocol has been designed to respond to the situation ashore even while it evolves and since November last year, some of the measures were enhanced including the introduction of mid-cruise testing for guests and weekly testing for crew as well as further enhanced hygiene and sanitation measures and the. Everyone on board observes social distancing as well as wearing masks in public areas, and the guest technology has been leveraged to facilitate onboard contact tracing. To preserve a safe bubble on board the ship, guests only go ashore as part of protected shore excursions so that guests can be protected even while ashore by measures similar to those on board.