"We are seeing cancellations and a softening in demand since the ship’s itinerary includes as many as three ports in that country. This has led to the decision to delay the restart of the ship by four weeks," the company stated.

MSC noted the recent implementation of more monitoring steps for Italian citizens who have moved to Greece.

MSC added that, because of the itinerary's appeal, it expects reservations will start to pick up again in the coming weeks.

MSC Magnifica 's sales are open to Schengen area residents, although the majority of guests are expected to be Italian nationals and tourists at the same time in this early restart process.

As a result, departures for the MSC Magnifica cruise from 29 August to 19 September were cancelled. The first cruise will take off from Bari, Italy on September 26 with an unchanged itinerary.

Currently the MSC Grandiosa provides seven-night cruises with boarding at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo as well as calling in Valletta, Malta.

Maritime Business World