Italian Cruises Resume With New Safety Protocols

Months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the cruise industry, some cruises have resumed in Italy with new safety protocols on board. This comes after the Italian government gave the green light to cruising companies to resume their sailings last month.

COVID-19 seriously affected the cruising and yachting industries, but operations are gradually restarting in Italy. Passengers are now able to book cruises that have a series of new safety protocols in place.

MSC Grandiosa was the first cruise ship to set sail from the port of Genoa in August with around 2,500 passengers and staff on board. This is far lower than its usual maximum capacity of 6,300 passengers.

COVID-19 testing was mandatory for everyone on the ship before departure.

New protocols on vessels include posters explaining local health requirements, hand-sanitizing stations, temperature checks, social distancing where possible and wearing protective masks in all indoor and outdoor spaces.

Passengers boarding the ship expressed satisfaction with the strict yet helpful protocols.

Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC cruises, explained that the company’s objective is providing a safe environment on board and re-establishing customer confidence.

Onorato said passengers are no longer allowed to disembark independently from the ships for visits ashore and are required to participate in organized excursions when off the ship.

These tours utilize buses that have been previously sanitized and drivers and guides that are tested the morning the ship arrives.

On board the ship, none of the usual services have been cancelled, but just adapted to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Buffets are now being served and there are plenty of empty cabins available should guests need to self-isolate.

Like MSC, Costa Cruises has also been granted the green light to resume cruising. Their initial sailings were only for Italian nationals.

Italy was one of the first countries in the world to resume cruising but TUI Cruises and Hapag Lloyd also recently concluded inaugural cruises with no city stop-overs from Hamburg.

Some of the cruises that have resumed sailing have experienced COVID scares. Some passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 on smaller cruises, forcing companies to cancel any further sailings and reassess their safety protocols.

Many of the big names in the cruising world, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line, have still cancelled all or nearly all their sailings through the end of October.