As the Covid-19 surge caused over the past several months by the Omicron variant continues to decline and many cruise ships are reporting zero Covid cases in the past few weeks, several cruise lines decided to relax some of the safety measures. This week Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line announced rolling back of its onboard mask policy for guests, allowing fully vaccinated passengers to go without masks in most of the public areas.

Cruise Lines International Association - CLIA Brazil, has announced that the crew onboard the five cruise ships anchored off the coast of Santos have received coronavirus booster shot. As part of the cruise lines policy and adoption of mandatory core elements of a strong set of health protocols, all crew members need to receive the 3rd dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

After the temporary pause, MSC Magnifica is back to cruising. The ship departed yesterday from the port of Hamburg, Germany on a 7-night Northern Europe itinerary with scheduled stops in Southampton, UK; Le Havre, France; Zeebrugge (Bruges) and IJmuiden, Netherlands.

MSC Cruises announced extension of the cruise season in the Arabian Gulf through June 25 with the cruise ship MSC Bellissima. The cruise line will offer additional 7-night cruises with stops in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas in the United Arab Emirates and Doha in Qatar.

Brazil cruise season is once again facing an extension of the voluntary cruise pause after CLIA Brazil moved the date of return to cruise activities from February 4, to February 18.

Elon Musk's SpaceX launch of the rocket Falcon 9 was aborted at the last moment from Cape Canaveral after a cruise ship ventured under the planned flight trajectory near the hazard area. SpaceX was set to fire a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit on Sunday at 6:11 p.m, but the US Coast Guard could not clear a cruise ship in time out of the rocket’s downrange hazard area.

MSC Cruises crew member has sent a letter to Crew Center voicing his concerns about how the company’s health and safety rules are followed by the crew and the high-ranking officers. The crew member states that while the crew are the ones who are following the rules under tremendous pressure, people who need to lead by example have privileges due to their high-ranking positions.

MSC will adjust the routes of its cargo and cruise ships in the Eastern Mediterranean to avoid collision with the sperm whales, which are in danger of extinction in this part of the world. The MSC Group, one of the main maritime transport and logistics operators, will modify its itineraries on the west coast of Greece to reduce the risk of collision with these endangered species.

The sale of some of Genting Group global assets, including shipyards and cruise ships, could become a reality after the company announced appointment of joint provisional liquidators by a Bermuda court.

Brazilan cruise season could be canceled for the five cruise ships currently anchored off the coast of Santos, after the Health Regulatory Agency – Anvisa, recommended suspension of the 2021/2022 season due to the rapid rise of COVID cases aboard the ships and in the country. Several media outlets in Brazil report that Anvisa sent a document to the Ministry of Health which will have the final word about the faith of the season.