Due to the increased number of crew members who joined cruise lines with the intent of jumping ship and stay in the USA illegally, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) imposed new restrictions. The new temporary restrictions regarding shore leave in the ports in New York (Brooklyn and Manhattan) and New Jersey (Cape Liberty) states that only crew members with completed five contracts can go ashore. This is industry-wide and affects all cruise ships entering these ports.

Several cruise lines have canceled port stops in Barcelona due to the protests and unrests in the capital of Catalonia. The situation in Barcelona is tense and is getting more and more restless after harsh prison sentences handed to the pro-independence leaders by the Spain’s Supreme Court. Since the beginning of the protests are 97 people arrested, as confirmed by the Ministry of Interior and 57 people who have been injured in Barcelona.

After the transatlantic crossing from Kiel, Germany, following stops in Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia finally arrived in New York on 7th of October. The news was broadcasted by all mainstream media as the vessel become the largest ship with 4,488 guests to ever dock in New York. However, as we were informed by several crew members onboard, out of 1500 crew working on the ship only 38 employees were allowed to go ashore.

It is funny how there is always talk about all the Values of the company only to find out that nobody in authority follows the same values they try to impress upon the lower echelons of staff. 

MSC Cruises crew member rescued a woman after she went overboard from the cruise ship MSC Seaview while the vessel was docked at the port of Genoa, Italy. The incident happen on Monday, June 17, 2019, at around 10 pm when a 43-year-old Irish woman jumped from one of the decks into the sea after a fight with her husband. 

The Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo performed a remarkable evacuation of a Brazilian woman who was in labor on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. After experiencing contractions and almost giving birth on board MCS Seaview the woman was airlifted from the vessel some 400 miles of the coast of Gran Canaria on Monday, April 8, 2019.

An elderly passenger has died onboard the cruise ship MSC Splendida while the vessel was in Sir Bani Yas, United Arab Emirates on April 02, 2019. According to a passenger sailing on Splendid, the man died during dinner presumably of a heart attack. Revival was attempted by the crew, and emergency personnel came to transfer him to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

MSC Divina crew member has contacted Crew Center saying that no one from the ship’s onboard personnel was allowed to go ashore when the vessel docked in New York on March 17. The reason for this decision by the captain is because one crew member failed to report back to the ship while Divina was docked in Miami on March 14. According to our source, the crew member who didn’t return to the ship was Indian national working as a Pool boy. 

Starting from March 31, 2019, the daily service charges will be mandatory on all MSC cruise ships, and passengers will no longer be able to make cancelation at the end of the cruise.

Nearly nine thousand people, including passengers and crew of the cruise MSC Seaview, were vaccinated against measles in the port of Santos, Sao Paulo, after confirming that 13 employees onboard showed symptoms of the virus.