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Former MSC Opera passenger tested positive for COVID-19

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 March 2020 04 March 2020

Health Authorities in Austria today informed MSC Cruises that a passenger of Austrian nationality, who had cruised with on MSC Opera in the East Mediterranean from 17 to 28 February, tested positive yesterday, 3 March, for COVID-19. This passenger returned directly to Austria through northern Italy on 28 February immediately after disembarking from his cruise in Genoa, Italy.

"MSC Opera earlier today arrived in Piraeus, Greece, and we promptly informed the Greek Health Authorities about this reported case and asked for their guidelines. We requested at the same time that passengers, as a precautionary measure, remained on board while awaiting guidance from the local authorities," MSC Cruises said in a statement.

"We shared with the local health authorities the ship’s full medical records as well as the medical and travel history records of the former Austrian passenger.

The Greek health authorities gave MSC Opera permission around 13:00 CET to sail from Piraeus, Greece, and continue its journey to its next scheduled port in Corfu, Greece. No additional health measures were required to be taken and the ship is currently sailing as planned.

There are no passengers or crew members currently on board the ship who have reported any flu-like symptoms.

The health and safety of our passengers and crew will always remain our top priority."

Reunion police use tear gas to end violent protest against Sun Princess call, reports say

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 March 2020 03 March 2020

The police on the French island of Reunion have used tear gas to put an end to protests that had turned violent against the call of the Sun Princess cruise ship at Pointe de Galets on the island, the news media report.

The ship had not reported of a coronavirus or another kind of an infection onboard.

“About 30 protesters had gathered at the north-western port to demand health checks of tourists to avoid the virus taking root on their island. The locals tried to prevent visitors leaving the port, forcing the police to intervene. The protesters threw pebbles and bottles at the security forces, who responded with teargas,” The Guardian newspaper in London reports on its website.

The 77,400 gross ton Sun Princess belongs to Princess Cruises, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc. It is based in Australia and the majority of the about 2,000 passengers on the ship came from Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The ship had already been refused entry to a port in Madagascar, some news reports say.

UPDATED : No coronavirus on AIDA aura

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 March 2020 03 March 2020

The two passengers tested for coronavirus on AIDA Cruises' AIDA aura did not have the infection, reports say. The ship has been able to resume its cruise, vessel tracking websites show.

Two passengers onboard Aida aura of Carnival group’s German unit AIDA Cruises have been tested for coronavirus and the ship has extended its stay at the Norwegian port of Haugesund as a result, the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reports on its website.

The two passengers in question had been in contact with a third person, who is not on the ship, who had later tested positive for the virus.

Neither of the two passengers had not shown any symptoms of an infection, a doctor cited in the report said, but as a precaution they had been quarantined in their cabins until the test results were ready, the report said.

Costa cancels north east Asia cruises, Carnival plc shares start week sharply lower

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 02 March 2020 02 March 2020

Costa Cruises has canceled most of the cruises in north east Asia - from ports in China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea – scheduled for march, while shares in Carnival plc opened sharply lower on Monday morning.

The affected ships are Costa Venezia, Costa Serena, Costa Atlantica and Costa neoRomantica, the company said.

Meanwhile, shares in the Carnival group’s UK listed and domiciled holding company Carnival plc stared the week sharply lower, trading at £23.14 at 1030 local time, down 4.8% from the opening. It had hit a low of £23.00 earlier in the session. Costa Cruises is part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group.

The FTSE100 index of leading shares traded 1.13% higher at the same point in time.

On Friday in New York, cruise shares had staged a recovery in tandem with the wider market after sustaining sharp losses during the week.

MSC Meraviglia to return to Miami after receiving 'clean bill of health'

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 29 February 2020 29 February 2020

MSC Cruises has said its ship MSC Meraviglia has been given ‘a clean bill of health’ by Mexican health officials following medical checks on a crew member and a young female guest who both had common seasonal flu after the vessel arrived in Cozumel, Mexico.

Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, said: ”The Mexican authorities followed the correct maritime protocols whereby a ship in advance provides medical records of any passenger or crew member who is or has been unwell to the next port she visits.”

Health experts boarded the ship to check the medical condition of one crew member and one young female guest who had seasonal flu. In addition to the checks that are customarily run to give a ship a clean bill of health, out of an abundance of caution they conducted overnight additional tests on both of them.

The results were tested at a Mexican Ministry of Public Health laboratory in the city of Chetumal and determined that the condition of both the crew member and guest was in no way whatsoever associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus. The ship was given a clean bill of health.

MSC Meraviglia previously had been unable to make scheduled calls to both Ocho Rios, Jamaica and George Town, Grand Cayman. Guests couldn’t disembark at either island because local authorities had decided to ignore the same established health protocols that today saw the ship receive a clean bill of health.

Vago added, ”We would like to thank the Mexican authorities for their preventative health professionalism, which is the only way to demonstrate certainty to populations ashore, as well as to guests and crew on board.

”The disappointing decisions by Jamaica and Grand Cayman to bar our ship to allow our passengers to disembark and enjoy their islands was born out of fear, not best medical practice. This led to unnecessary and unjustifiable anxiety, not only for our passengers and crew on board, but right across the Caribbean’s tourism sector, and possibly even further beyond.”

Guests on board MSC Meraviglia will be able to spend a full day today (Friday, February 28) ashore in Cozumel. The ship will depart later tonight to return to her homeport of Miami, Florida on Sunday, March 1.

MSC Cruises has told all of its 4,580 guests on board that they will receive a 100 percent refund of their cruise fare due to the disruptive nature of their vacation.