MSC Cruises Looking to Restart Greece Sailings Next

MSC Cruises today announced that it was working closely with the Greek Ministry of Tourism towards a restart of its Greece sailings.

MSC has already successfully restarted its Mediterranean sailings out of Genoa, Italy on MSC Grandiosa, and is now hoping to add sailings out of Greece sometime after April 29.

MSC had been planning to restart on Feb. 14 on MSC Magnifica, but has since pushed that back until at least after April 30. That ship will now be replaced for Eastern Mediterranean Voyages, including Greece, during the Easter period and through summer, MSC said.

Greece has banned inbound passengers arriving by sea since Nov. 9, which not only includes cruise ships but also ferry service with Turkey and Albania. It is still allowing international passengers to come in by air if they provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test and then self-isolate for seven days as a precaution.

MSC’s Mediterranean restart did suffer one stop after the Italian government issued an order to stop the sailings during the holiday season, but normal operations earlier this month on Grandiosa.

The ship, which first started sailing its European itineraries in August, has already been able to safely sail more than 30,000 guests since its restart, a major milestone for the line and for the cruise industry.

Earlier this month, MSC released a video of what travel advisors, who have been able to take part in these sailings, experienced while onboard. The experience, which has been cited by a number of others in the cruise industry as a model for a safe return to sailing, includes new service in the ship’s buffet, hand washing stations everywhere on the ship, temperature checks, mask wearing, and more.