MSC Cruises is following Carnival Cruise Line in relaxing Covid testing rules for passengers sailing from US ports.
Current vaccination requirements will remain in place for sailings from Miami and Port Canaveral until August 8 – four days after an overhaul of Carnival’s protocols.
The current rules mean that all MSC passengers aged 12 years and older must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The changes mean that unvaccinated children aged two years and older will have to show proof of a negative test taken within three days of embarkation.
Fully vaccinated passengers sailing six nights or longer from US ports must show proof of a negative test taken within three days of departure.
Vaccinated passengers sailing five nights or less from US ports are recommended to have tested negative within three days of embarkation, but this is not a stipulation for boarding.
A change of health and safety requirements set by national public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has triggered MSC’s new protocols for US sailings.
The line has two ships based in Florida, with MSC Seashore in Miami and MSC Divina in Port Canaveral.
MSC Cruises’ protocols, first introduced in August 2020, are subject to the requirements of any destinations on its two ships’ itineraries from US ports.