After a long pause for international cruising, Marella Cruises has announced its plan to return to international waters from Sept. 3, 2021, with new ‘one-country’ itineraries departing from Malaga sailing to Spanish ports and Corfu sailing to Greek ports, which are on sale now.

The Marella Discovery will homeport in Corfu and will sail between September and October on three new itineraries calling at all Greek ports, including the popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos, the historical island of Rhodes, and the largest island in Greece, Crete.

The Marella Explorer 2, the cruise line’s adults-only ship, will set sail from Malaga on two new itineraries. Continental Coasts itinerary will visit Palamos before heading to Barcelona, the capital of Mallorca, Palma, Alicante, and Almeria. The Spirit of Iberia itinerary will call at Valencia, Ibiza, Cartagena, Gibraltar and will finish the itinerary in Cadiz before heading back to Malaga.

“Following the successful start of our first-ever domestic sailings we are delighted to announce our plans to restart our international cruising program, with five new itineraries for our customers to enjoy. These itineraries sail to some of the most beautiful Mediterranean spots. Greece and Spain have long been popular destinations for our customers, so we’re excited to be able to offer them new one-country itineraries. We know our customers are just as excited as we are to return to international cruising, and we can’t wait to see them onboard,” said Managing Director of Cruise TUI UK & Ireland, Chris Hackney.

“The safety and well-being of both our crew and guests remain our priority which is why our vaccination and testing protocols will remain in place,” he added.

To ensure the safety of both customers and crew, Marella said that it will have in place vaccination and testing requirements. Anyone aged 18-years and older will be required to have had both COVID-19 jabs at least 14 days before traveling.

All under 18-year-olds, excluding infants under the age of two who will not be able to sail as they are exempt from testing, will be asked to have a lateral flow test.  All guests will need to check-in for their cruise and complete their cruise health declaration online pre-departure to release their cruise boarding pass, the cruise line said.

Additionally, all guests sailing on an international cruise before Oct. 31, 2021, must be UK residents with a permanent UK address, have comprehensive cruise insurance and a passport with at least six months validity.