Vaccination requirements

All Guests are strongly encouraged, but not required, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
All Saudi Arabian passport holders (ages 12 or older) must be fully vaccinated according to local COVID-19 regulations.

When a Guest is considered “fully vaccinated”?

- Guests who have received at least two doses of vaccine - except in the case of a single dose Johnson & Johnson - including those not considered up-to-date by EMA standards.
- Guests recovered from Covid-19 with one shot of vaccine are considered fully vaccinated (They must provide a QR code or alternatively a validating documentation)


Testing requirements

• For vaccinated Guests it’s not required (but strongly recommended) to present a negative test.
• Unvaccinated guests, guests without a vaccine certificate, or guests who have recovered from COVID-19, ages 5 and older are required to present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR or Antigen test taken 2 days prior to embarkation.

Tests must be laboratory certified. A rapid antigen self-test is not valid for travel purposes.

All guests are recommended to travel with their COVID-19 vaccination status and test results. While the vaccination is not required for boarding it could be requested in various ports of call and at local attractions.

The original test results certificate and vaccination certificate must be presented at the terminal (paper or electronic format) and must be in one of the following languages: English, Italian, German, French or Spanish.  The COVID 19 test certificate must contain: guest’s personal data (verifiable with the other travel documents), date of the test, identification / contact details of the centre that performed the analysis, technique used and negative test result.

All Crew members are required to be fully vaccinated and regularly weekly tested according to MSC Cruises Health & Safety protocol.

For more information visit our FAQ section.

Please click here to check the requirements for MSC Grand Voyages cruises.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there might be international travel restrictions depending on your cruise destination and your country of residence. Currently the passengers residents in Iran and China (except Hong Kong and Taiwan) are not allowed to cruise until 31st December 2022.

The wearing of face masks is highly recommended. In certain circumstances this recommendation might be due to a mandatory requirement in accordance with applicable health authorities regulations of a country or port of call visited. When ashore, guests must also follow any local regulations regarding face mask usage. These protocols are subject to change.

Guests’ passports need to have a minimum of 6 months validity at the time of travel. A transit e- Visa is requested to enter the country by paying a fee. We are currently working with local authorities in order to eliminate or reduce such cost. Transit e-Visa request can be submitted only few days before the day of call. More information will follow as soon as possible.

Other requirements such as a COVID-19 test  a Passenger locator form (PLF) may still be necessary for national or international mobility requirement: it’s every guest’s responsibility to verify this requirement before departure. For more information, it is recommended to check your country’s competent authorities official channels.

To verify all the required documents, passports and visas for your cruise, please click here.

As during a cruise, you may be exposed to specific COVID-19 risks that may not be usually covered by existing insurance policies, to ensure your peace of mind is strongly recommended – for all new reservations from 1 July 2022 onwards - for all guests to have in place an insurance policy that specifically covers them against COVID-19 related risks, such as cancellation, interruption, repatriation expenses, quarantine, medical assistance and related expenses, as well as hospitalization. If you have no insurance in place, please note that you might be exposed to additional costs that could not be covered by the Company.

The insurance should be in place to cover you and your family, from the confirmation of your booking until the end of the cruise, your cruise and flight or your Stay & Cruise package.

To fully protect you from the above risks, MSC offers a COVID Protection Plan - an insurance policy specifically designed for these COVID-19 risks - that can be added to the cruise whilst making the booking. The Covid Protection Plan is applicable to all departures on sales. Before finalizing the reservation, it will be possible to add to the cruise the MSC COVID-19 Protection plan at the price of 29€ per person.

Alternatively, you may travel with another insurance policy covering the above risks.