So now I have your attention whilst you are singing the Coca Cola advert in your head, I wanted to share with you the best news I have heard all year.
There is a cruise ship back in the water!
No this is not a drill or a false alarm. MSC Cruises, last night sailed MSC Grandiosa on a 7 night voyage out of Genoa. And oh my, what a sight it was. I am not ashamed to admit that watching it on Facebook, and hearing the horn blaring gave me goosebumps and brought a tear to my eye (tell anyone and I’ll deny it all).
With a maximum capacity of 6300, Grandiosa is a big girl and the perfect ship to hopefully kick start cruising again. She left port with 1,500 guests on board with another 1,000 to join her along the way, which means each guest has an abundance of space on board on which to socially distance. Where do I sign up for this please, as that is going to be so good for those on board. No queues, more than enough sunbeds, I can just see myself now on there with a Pina Collada!
As much I wish I could get myself to sea on her, she has not sailed with any UK guests on board as the UK Foreign Office are still advising against cruise ship travel, but with all the extra safety measures MSC have introduced, hopefully it won’t be long till we all are. Some of these are:
- Health screening for all guests, including a mandatory health questionnaire (sent in the cruise ticket) and a contactless temperature check
- Newly designed processes for embarkation with assigned arrival times at the port to facilitate responsible social distancing and enhanced sanitation measures that follow the same high standards as on board
- Boarding will be denied to any guest showing signs of illness such as fever (>37.5°C/99.5°F) or flu-like symptoms, including chills, cough, shortness of breath, muscle/body aches, fatigue, headache, sore throat and loss of taste/smell or in case of potential exposure to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, in the 14 days prior to embarkation.
- New sanitation methods including electrostatic sprayers to kill bacteria and viruses and use of hospital-grade disinfectant products
- Increased frequency of cleaning throughout the whole ship by well-trained housekeeping staff with a focus on high-traffic and frequently touched areas; public spaces sprayed with disinfectant each night
- Cabins cleaned daily with careful attention to regularly touched surfaces and additional deep cleaning at the end of the cruise
- 100% external fresh air supplied to all cabins and public areas, additionally sanitized through UV-C light technology (that kills 99.97% of all microbes) and no re-circulation of air between cabins or within the ship
For all the official information from MSC on their enhanced protocols, visit their website https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-safety
With everything these cruise lines will have in place, I can see them leading the way for travel out of this pandemic, as where they lead I think hotels and airlines will follow to help make us all as safe as possible. Although we are a long way off from being back to normal and there are still many obstacles to overcome this is the start we have all been waiting for
Bon Voyage to all those on MSC Grandiosa. Oh how we have missed you!