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Ahoy there! MSC Grandiosa to arrive in Malta tomorrow, with strict health protocols in place
Welcome back!

Jillian Mallia

Valletta Cruise Port will be welcoming its first cruise ship, the MSC Grandiosa, on Friday the 21st August, which will be operating under a strict and comprehensive health and safety protocol that applies equally both on land and at sea. Despite Maltese ports being open since 1st July, no cruise ships have called at Valletta since March 2020.

The solid health and safety protocol

MSC Cruises’ new operating protocol has been designed to also protect the health and safety of the local communities that the Company’s ships visit as well as guests and crew. For this reason, it meets and goes beyond guidelines provided by key international and regional regulatory and technical bodies, as well as regulations set by the governments in the countries in which MSC Cruises ships operate.

grandiosa

Additionally, RINA, the independent maritime certification corporation, has verified that the protocol meets the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) Guidance, which incorporates additional health standards including those from the EU Healthy Gateways Joint Action. MSC Cruises’ protocol includes universal testing for all guests and crew prior to boarding. Additionally, guests will not be allowed to go ashore independently but only on protected excursions thus also protecting the communities they visit.

This universal health screening includes three comprehensive steps: a temperature check, a health questionnaire and a COVID-19 antigen swab test. Depending on the results and according to the passenger’s medical or travel history, a secondary screening and follow-up molecular testing will be done. Any guest who displays symptoms or tests positive, will be denied boarding. Passengers hailing from countries classified as high resk will be asked to provided a RT-PCR test done not more than 72 hours prior to embarkation. Crew members are also regularly tested – at least twice a month. MSC Grandiosa will also be sailing at 70 per cent capacity which allows a 10 square metre space between passengers.

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A return to welcoming cruise ships

Stephen Xuereb, CEO of Valletta Cruise Port and COO of Global Ports Holding commented, “We are excited to be welcoming MSC Grandiosa back to Valletta. The safety and well-being of guests, personnel and the local community is our upmost priority. In the last months together with the local health and tourism authorities and the cruise lines, we have been busy working on protocols that ensure a safe, secure and seamless experience for our guests. Testament to this, Valletta Cruise Port has been awarded the World Travel and Tourism Council’s ‘Safe Travel’ stamp which recognises the adoption of health and hygiene global standardised protocols.”

Emre Sayin, CEO of Global Ports Holding Plc said, “For a company like ours, which handles thousands of cruise calls in a normal year, one call does not seem so significant. But this call is an important milestone because it is the first international cruise call to one of the 19 cruise ports we operate since the whole world locked down as a result of the pandemic.

Look out for the MSC Grandiosa tomorrow!

20th August 2020


Jillian Mallia
Written by
Jillian Mallia
A book lover, writer and globetrotter who loves exploring new places and the local gems that the Maltese Islands have to offer. An avid foodie and arts fanatic, Jillian searches the island and beyond for the perfect settings to write about.

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