Cruise Critic News: MSC Plans Two-Ship August Cruise Startup for Europeans, 14 Ships for October 31

[LauraS]

(12:05 p.m. EDT) -- Following the implementation of new health and safety protocols, MSC Cruises is planning a two-ship restart in the Mediterranean this month for European residents only, followed by a larger restart of 14 vessels on October 31, 2020. The potential summer restart would see MSC Grandiosa and MSC Magnifica welcome Schengen (EU) ...

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[kelleherdl]

Ok.  2 + 14 accounts for 16 of the potentially active 17 ships by October 31st.  Which ship and homeport is odd-man out?

Edited August 3, 2020 by kelleherdl

[Nunagoras]

TBHH, while I would be appreciative of this restart... The current ongoing on Norway makes me think that perhaps it would to be better for them to reconsider... Good luck, MSC!... 🙂

[DCGuy64]

This is an encouraging development. The plain fact is that in order for cruising to resume (and I assume everyone who belongs to this site wants that to happen), there are going to be challenges. There's no way the first cruises are going to go 100% smoothly. There will be some spread of the virus, no doubt about it. Same on land, we've had an increase in cases at restaurants, bars, beaches, amusement parks, etc. and they're not all shutting down. This will be a learning process and as time goes on, the cruise lines will learn from their experiences and adjust their protocols accordingly. I'm encouraged that MSC, TUI, Ponant, Hurtigruten and others are prepared to get back in the game. But it won't be without some risk, because risk is a fact of life. Always has been, always will be.

[KennyFla]

I think that if Europe does get up and running, there will be a lot of pressure on the CDC to start here.  Bias or not.

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

I think that if Europe does get up and running, there will be a lot of pressure on the CDC to start here.  Bias or not.

I agree. One of the benefits of cruise lines sailing internationally is that if they're banned (for all intents and purposes) in one part of the world, they can still sail elsewhere. It's also the advantage of having a moving asset vs a fixed one. If you have a ship, it can sail in many places. Can't do that with a hotel, restaurant, bar, etc.

[sidari]

T.U.I that had a 3 night sailing last week are said to be canceling all cruises to the end of this year! Coupled with the Hurtigruten  cases they have cancelled cruises out of the UK in September.

[cruiser man 60]

2 hours ago, sidari said:

T.U.I that had a 3 night sailing last week are said to be canceling all cruises to the end of this year! Coupled with the Hurtigruten  cases they have cancelled cruises out of the UK in September.

Haven't seen any reports that TUI are cancelling, saw reports that AIDA & Costa are getting ready for restarting.

https://crew-center.com/aida-starts-test-voyages-scheduled-cruises-canceled-until-mid-august