One of the first big-ship cruise lines to resume sailing, MSC Cruises, has shown it’s serious about enforcing its multiple layers of anti-Covid health and safety rules. On its first cruise, a family that broke away from a shore excursion were barred from re-boarding the ship.
MSC Grandiosa, one of the company’s largest ships, sailed last weekend on a cruise with planned port calls at five ports, four in Italy and one in Malta. In Naples, a family on the ship’s city tour broke away to explore on their own. When they returned to the ship, they were met at the pier and told they would not be allowed back on board.
The company arranged the tour using sanitized buses and personal protective gear, and led by guides and drivers who had undergone health checks. The tours are also designed for social distancing.
In a company statement to press, MSC said “In line with our health and safety protocol, developed to ensure health and well-being of our guests, crew and the communities we visit, we had to deny re-embarkation to a family who broke from their shore excursion yesterday. By departing from the organized shore excursion, this family broke from the “social bubble” created for them and all other guests, and therefore could not be permitted to re-board the ship.”
Photo: One of MSC’s next-generation cruisers, entering service next year
