In one of the anomalies of lockdowns that have shuttered hotels and resorts around the world, the Grandiosa has been plying the Mediterranean Sea this winter with seven-night cruises, a lonely flag-bearer of the global cruise industry.
After cruise ships were early sources of highly publicized coronavirus outbreaks, the Grandiosa has tried to chart a course through the pandemic with strict anti-virus protocols approved by Italian authorities that seek to create a “health bubble” on board.
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| Passengers, from right, Stefania Battistoni, her sons Dasteen and Samuel Pacifici and her mother Loredana Merlo have their hand luggage sanitized prior to boarding the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) |
Passengers walk the terminal prior to boarding the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Passengers walk the terminal prior to boarding the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Passenger Loredana Battistoni, right, waits to receive a Covid-19 test prior to boarding the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Passengers, from right, Stefania Battistoni, her sons Dasteen and Samuel Pacifici and her mother Loredana Merlo have their hand luggage sanitized prior to boarding the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Passengers and crew are tested before and during cruises. Mask mandates, temperature checks, contact-tracing wristbands and frequent cleaning of the ship are all designed to prevent outbreaks. Passengers from outside Italy must arrive with negative COVID-19 tests taken within 48 hours of their departures and only residents of Europe’s Schengen countries plus Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria are permitted to book under COVID-19 insurance policies.
On Wednesday, the Grandiosa left the Italian port of Civitavecchia for its weeklong Easter cruise, with 2,000 of its 6,000-passenger capacity and stops planned in Naples and Valletta, Malta, before returning to its home port in Genoa.
Passengers welcomed the semblance of normalcy brought on by the freedom to eat in a restaurant or sit poolside without a mask, even if the virus is still a present concern.
Passengers enjoy the sun by a swimming pool on board the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship in Civitavecchia, near Rome, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
“After a year of restrictive measures, we thought we could take a break for a week and relax,” said Stefania Battistoni, a 39-year-old teacher and single mother who overnight from Bolzano, in northern Italy, with her two sons and mother to board the cruise.
The pandemic has plunged global cruise ship passenger numbers from a record 30 million in 2019 to more than 350,000 since July 2020, according to Cruise Lines International, the world’s largest cruise industry association representing 95% of ocean-going cruise capacity. Currently, fewer than 20 ships are operating globally, a small fraction of CLIA’s members’ fleets of 270 ships.
Source: https://apnews.com/
