MSC Cruises has launched its summer 2022 campaign under the Cruise with Confidence program, confirming that all sailings through summer 2022 will adhere to the cruise line’s health and safety protocol, flexible booking policy, vaccination and testing requirements, and return to independent exploration ashore.

According to a press release, the Cruise with Confidence promise will cover all new and existing bookings for sailings through the end of the next summer season. MSC Cruises has already operated cruises with over one million guests under the program, throughout all phases of the pandemic – past and present.

“We were able to lead the restart of our industry in August last year thanks to a comprehensive and flexible health and safety protocol that was designed to adapt to the evolution of the pandemic ashore and has since set the standard across the travel and hospitality sector. With this, we were able to continue to offer the highest level of protection to our guests, crew and communities where our ships call to responsibly and safely welcome onboard over one million guests for their getaway at sea,” the CEO at MSC Cruises, Gianni Onorato, said.

“With the pandemic continuing to evolve, we understand the importance of having clear information to reassure our guests that they can book a cruise with confidence and with flexibility to give them total peace of mind. We are thus extending our successful Cruise with Confidence guarantee to all cruises through summer 2022 to continue to offer new and existing guests a safe, flexible and enjoyable vacation option. Reinforced with the required COVID-19 protection plan, this insurance gives guests extra security before and during the cruise. Finally, we also see the return of a full experience ashore with the reintroduction of independent shore excursions where local regulations allow – there really has been no better time to book a cruise vacation,” he added.

The following elements are part of MSC’s policies:

• All guests and crew vaccinated and tested: All guests aged 12 and above are required to be fully vaccinated (except for Red Sea cruises, where guests aged eight years or older need to be fully vaccinated with a vaccine recognized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). All guests aged two and above are also required to submit a negative test prior to boarding. All ship crew are also fully vaccinated, regularly tested and follow strict health and safety policies, MSC said.
• Booking flexibility: All cruises can be rescheduled free of charge up to 48 hours prior to sailing, for any reason (the period is 21 days for Fly&Cruise bookings).
• COVID protection plan: All guests and their bookings are fully protected by the required COVID-19 protection insurance, covering events such as testing positive before boarding or at any point during your vacation. At the end of the cruise, guests can undertake antigen or RT-PCR testing available either onboard or in the terminal, if this is required for their return home.
• Shore excursions: Guests are free to disembark and independently explore ports of call wherever local regulations allow. MSC Cruises said that it has worked in partnership with authorities in all the regions and countries in which the ships operate to ensure the company’s protocol “meets, exceeds and adapts” to the required regional and national health and safety measures.

MSC said that it continues to monitor and adapt its health and safety protocol that was developed last year by the Blue Ribbon COVID Expert Group. This panel of experts “helped inform MSC Cruises’ operating protocol to protect the health and safety of guests and crew during every aspect of the guest’s journey, while maintaining the company’s unique guest experience,” the cruise line said.

Since its original inception, the panel has been reinforced with the addition of Robert R. Redfield, an American virologist and infectious disease clinician who most recently served as Director of the CDC from 2018 to 2021.