The family-owned company MSC Cruises from May 2021 starts to offer British Isles voyages to both vaccinated and non-vaccinated UK residents.
All cruises depart from MSC's new terminal at Port Southampton England. The mini-season starts with short-breaks and 7-night roundtrips to UK destinations. MSC will also offer additional embarkation ports.
Antonio Paradiso (MSC UK's managing director) said it was time for the British holidaymakers "to get back onboard and enjoy a well-deserved break from what has been a very challenging 12 months for everyone in so many ways."
“MSC Cruises is a family-owned company and our guests are an extension of that, so we are looking forward to welcoming them and their families back onboard. Our hope is to offer every type of holidaymaker the chance to escape this summer – from grandparents to teenagers and even the smallest of passengers looking to explore.”
To minimize the risk of COVID transmission onboard, MSC liners sail with limited passenger capacity and implement new enhanced health and safety protocols including a mandatory 14-day quarantine for the crew before they embark, universal testing of all passengers and crew prior to boarding and periodically throughout the sailing, continuous deep sanitation processes, face coverings, social distancing, protected shore excursions.
Non-vaccinated passengers will also have to show proof of negative test taken within 72 hours before embarkation.
MSC used these protocols to successfully restart operations in the Mediterranean on MSC Grandiosa in August 2020. The line has since carried 50,000+ tourists.