MSC Cruises has announced a change to its vaccine policy for its UK cruise holidays this summer on MSC Virtuosa.
The cruise line previously only required passengers to show proof of a negative Covid test result, but they will not require all adults to be fully vaccinated for the summer cruises.
MSC said it has made the decision because the UK government is allowing companies to "increase the number of guests permitted onboard", on the condition that adults onboard are fully jabbed.
The company said that its original policy was focused "on inconveniencing as few guests as possible", adding that it would be contacting any affected guests with bookings to discuss options such as rebooking or receiving a refund.
The cruise line released a statement explaining: "The UK government’s decision to increase the number of guests permitted onboard round-the-UK cruise ships to up to 50 per cent of passenger capacity is to be welcomed as it provides more options for British holidaymakers.
"The condition of this change is that all adult guests must be fully vaccinated and our focus was on inconveniencing as few guests as possible in this rapidly changing environment. It will, however, understandably frustrate a number of our guests who had already booked their holiday with us for voyages but are not yet fully vaccinated.
"While we regret that this change to the capacity limits will disrupt their travel plans and our ability to accommodate some guests as originally planned, the capacity increase allows us to protect many more guests’ holidays which would have been otherwise affected by the recently announced delay of the easing of COVID restrictions.
"We are now contacting affected guests to offer them options for their holiday, including rescheduling, refunds and exemptions."
Domestic cruises have been able to resume in England as part of step three of the roadmap for easing lockdown rules.
As a result, a number of cruise lines are offering UK sailings including Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line and Princess Cruises. (Including the launch of some highly-anticipated new cruise ships delayed due to the pandemic).
Some companies such as P&O Cruises, Saga and Princess had already said that they would require passengers to be fully vaccinated against Covid in order to be able to board their sailings.
Currently only domestic cruises in England are on the cards for Brits. The Foreign Office continues to advise against international cruise ship travel, as it has since March 2020.
Still, this week offered some hope for cruise fans as a number of ships took to the waters for the first time in 15 months, including P&O's Britannia and Saga's Spirit of Discovery.
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