Meraviglia approved for test cruise

[paulh84]

A few sites are reporting that Meraviglia has been approved to complete a test cruise. This would be last step in the process before they are approved to do restricted cruises with paying passengers. No details on when the cruise is scheduled yet. May be disappointing to some, but it appears unlikely that MSC would require vaccination passengers since they chose to do a test cruise. 

[sidari]

Two friends are due back onboard the first week of July.

[Até]

30 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

A few sites are reporting that Meraviglia has been approved to complete a test cruise.

Any sources you could add?

 

 

17 minutes ago, sidari said:

Two friends are due back onboard the first week of July.

Kind of strange that MSC is still selling Meraviglia cruises the first week of July.

 

 

[jules815]

2 hours ago, Até said:

Any sources you could add?

 

 

Kind of strange that MSC is still selling Meraviglia cruises the first week of July.

 

 

I'm not sure where I saw it, but I definitely read it too. It was a reliable source (maybe Miami Herald??) and it got my attention, because it was the first time I've seen MSC mentioned when they talk about the other cruise lines.

[jules815]

Washington Post. May be a pay wall, so I copied the paragraph below for you.  Article here:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/06/04/royal-caribbean-vaccine-summer-cruise/

 

"So far, the CDC has approved nine ships for test cruises, operated by Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line and MSC Cruises. Two ships, operated by Royal Caribbean sister line Celebrity Cruises, will go straight to voyages with paying passengers since the company has said it will meet the vaccine threshold. Norwegian Cruise Line, which has not been approved to restart, has said it will initially require everyone on board to be vaccinated."

[cruceriantes]

There is an article that mentioned it right here in Cruise Critic.

[Até]

I quickly scanned that article earlier and totally missed the MSC part.  It looks more and more likely I'll be canceling my upcoming MSC bookings.  Hopefully later on MSC will be able to offer cruises without the non-vaccination required restrictions.  We'll have to see if the CDC actually drops those requirements in November. 

[Homosassa]

I read the articles and still don't see where the Meravigilia is mentioned.

 

There is no mention of MSC and test cruises anywhere down here in Florida that I can find.

 

MSC plans to have three ships sailing from the US: Mervigilia, Armonia and Divina.

 

Perhaps it is the Armonia and Divina (the shorter cruises) that are doing test cruises as their itineraries would allow unvaccinated passengers to meet the requirements for the Bahamian travel visa.

 

The Meravigilia's seven day itineraries do not allow for unvaccinated passengers to meet the timeframes for the Bahamian Travel visa and have the required documentation at embarkation.

 

While children under 11 are exempt from the test requirement for the visa; children twelve and up do need the Covid 19 test.  Of course, children that age can be vaccinated in the US and, therefore, be exempt from the test requirement.

 

So the only scenario in which the Meraviglia would need the test cruise would be if less then 98% of the crew was vaccinated (unlikely at this point) or procedures need to be in place to protect the rest of the passengers from the unvaccinated disease vectors(children).

[paulh84]

19 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

I read the articles and still don't see where the Meravigilia is mentioned.

 

There is no mention of MSC and test cruises anywhere down here in Florida that I can find.

 

MSC plans to have three ships sailing from the US: Mervigilia, Armonia and Divina.

 

Perhaps it is the Armonia and Divina (the shorter cruises) that are doing test cruises as their itineraries would allow unvaccinated passengers to meet the requirements for the Bahamian travel visa.

 

The Meravigilia's seven day itineraries do not allow for unvaccinated passengers to meet the timeframes for the Bahamian Travel visa and have the required documentation at embarkation.

 

While children under 11 are exempt from the test requirement for the visa; children twelve and up do need the Covid 19 test.  Of course, children that age can be vaccinated in the US and, therefore, be exempt from the test requirement.

 

So the only scenario in which the Meraviglia would need the test cruise would be if less then 98% of the crew was vaccinated (unlikely at this point) or procedures need to be in place to protect the rest of the passengers from the unvaccinated disease vectors(children).

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ab/agents/variation-a/news/6165/
 

If they plan on not requiring a vaccine it would be much easier to just adjust the Bahamas stops. Divina hasn’t even started the CDC process yet. 

[Geobugs]

I am glad to hear this.  Last Friday, I booked a cruise for November 2021 on the Meraviglia.  The travel agent and the cruise line never mentioned a vaccine requirement either.  It must be because of the test cruises.  They never asked about my status.  I am un-vaccinated.  I look forward to an awesome cruise.

[Homosassa]

13 minutes ago, Geobugs said:

I am glad to hear this.  Last Friday, I booked a cruise for November 2021 on the Meraviglia.  The travel agent and the cruise line never mentioned a vaccine requirement either.  It must be because of the test cruises.  They never asked about my status.  I am un-vaccinated.  I look forward to an awesome cruise.

It is not the travel agent's or cruise line 's responsibility to tell you about necessary requirements.

Read the MSC Terms and Condition and FAQs.

 

It is your responsibility to meet the requirements of the country's public health recommendations (vaccinations for the USA) and to have any required visa's for port of call.

 

Check your itinerary's ports of call for Covid 19 requirements.

 

You will find yourself left on the dock if you can't provide the necessary documentation at embarkation.

 

[sidari]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

It is not the travel agent's or cruise line 's responsibility to tell you about necessary requirements.

Read the MSC Terms and Condition and FAQs.

 

It is your responsibility to meet the requirements of the country's public health recommendations (vaccinations for the USA) and to have any required visa's for port of call.

 

Check your itinerary's ports of call for Covid 19 requirements.

 

You will find yourself left on the dock if you can't provide the necessary documentation at embarkation.

 

MSC are doing test cruises so they can carry passengers who have not had the jab otherwise they would not be doing them. They currently do this in the UK and Europe, it will also mean they can allow kids onboard.

[shipgeeks]

I would love it if MSC would use the opportunity of this fresh start (US cruises) to require vaccinations.

[CallieS]

This article mentions Meraviglia specifically towards the very end.
 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251909713.html

[Até]

38 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

I would love it if MSC would use the opportunity of this fresh start (US cruises) to require vaccinations.

MSC developed their protocols before any vaccines and doesn't seem willing to move on to update that position.  With so many other lines requiring vaccination and offering cruises with minimal COVID-19 restrictions I wonder if these heavily regulated sailings will sell all that well.  There's currently too many better vacation choices for me to believe MSC will be able to even fill their US ships to 25% through November.

[neptuno]

One would think that requiring vaccination would sell more cabins than not.  Unless MSC wants to be the last choice for unvaxxed guests.  I will gladly spend a bit more to cruise with Celebrity.  Same for airfare, we chose Delta over Spirit when Delta offered empty middle seats for an extra $25.

[Geobugs]

MSC is the leader not the tail.  Royal Caribbean won’t require COVID-19 vaccination to ride cruises  https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/royal-caribbean-wont-require-covid-19-vaccination-to-ride-cruises/

[cruceriantes]

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ab/agents/variation-a/news/6165/

 

This is the article by Fran Golden and the part about MSC states:

"On Friday, the CDC revealed MSC Cruises has been granted approval to conduct simulated voyages aboard MSC Meraviglia from Port Miami."

[KennyFla]

7 hours ago, cruceriantes said:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ab/agents/variation-a/news/6165/

 

This is the article by Fran Golden and the part about MSC states:

"On Friday, the CDC revealed MSC Cruises has been granted approval to conduct simulated voyages aboard MSC Meraviglia from Port Miami."

Great news.  Hopefully the Divina is close behind.

[dexddd]

When is/are the MSC test cruise(s)?

[Jeremiah1212]

Travel Weekly is reporting the Meraviglia test sailing will take place on July 17. 

[sidari]

[kilkoyne]

Wow, my cruise is a 7-day on September 25th. Looks like I may luck out.

[jules815]

2 minutes ago, kilkoyne said:

Wow, my cruise is a 7-day on September 25th. Looks like I may luck out.

Looks good! We shouldn't have any changes to our itineraries either (we're 10/16), but I really don't care at this point if we do.

 

[shipgeeks]

So sad.  We are booked on Armonia, B2B, September 3-17.  Now we're not.

We don't care in the least about the itinerary, but did really want Armonia.

At least we know now.  Thank you for posting.