All aboard, South Africa: now that MSC Cruises have resumed sailings, here’s all you need to know before you cruise.
Last week Thursday, 13 January, saw Cape Town welcome its first cruise liner since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The MSC Orchestra docked at the Port of Cape Town thus signaled the start of the local cruise season. The cruise line currently only admits vaccinated passengers on board, and those passengers will have to adhere to guidelines too.
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Here are some of the requirements/guidelines to know before you embark:
- A PRINTED copy of your cruise ticket(s), one per person travelling
- A PRINTED COPY of your Health Questionnaire completed a minimum of 6 hours before embarkation
- All Guests (2 years old and over) need to provide a certificate of a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours of the day of embarkation
- All Guests (12 years old and over) have to be fully vaccinated with an approved Covid-19 vaccine with the final dose administered at least 14 days before the cruise departure date. Guests aged 12 – 17, having received a single shot a minimum of 14 days before the date of embarkation, will be accepted as fully vaccinated
- Unvaccinated guests (2 years to 11) will additionally have to undergo an antigen lateral flow test at the embarkation port at a cost of R300 per person.
- All vaccinated guests to present original COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card or Digital Government Issued Vaccination Certificate, which must contain: Personal identifiers (at a minimum: full name and date of birth) that match the personal identifiers on the passport, name of official source issuing the record, vaccine manufacturer and date(s) of vaccination
- Guests over 18 years old that recovered from Covid-19 and received only one shot of the vaccine are not considered as fully vaccinated
- Proof of your Covid-19 insurance policy. This is only necessary if you purchased separate insurance to MSC Cruises South Africa insurance
You can also view some of MSC Cruises Health and Safety protocols here.
