Health & medical

Guests are required to submit a special needs form to specialneeds@msccruisesusa.com 30 days before sailing.

The medical facilities and equipment on board may not be technically adequate to deal with a birth or pregnancy complications. Therefore, for safety reasons, we cannot admit women on board who will have reached or exceeded their twenty-fourth week of pregnancy by the end of the cruise. Regardless of the stage of pregnancy, a doctor should be consulted before setting off on a cruise to evaluate whether the guest is fit to travel.

Yes, MSC offers travel insurance. For general information and insurance premiums for all cruises (excluding World Cruise), please visit our “Why Buy Flyer” by clicking here. 

For those cruising on a World Cruise, please click here for details and rates. Please be advised, travel insurance is highly recommended, but not required to travel.

Thanks to the recent relaxation of travel restrictions worldwide, we are glad to welcome all guests back on board our ships without any testing requirements or concerns about their vaccination status.

Please remember that it is the responsibility of each guest to ensure they meet the requirements of any country they may be traveling through before, during, and after the cruise.

Guests are required to submit a special needs form to specialneeds@msccruisesusa.com 30 days before sailing.

MSC Cruises offers a gluten-friendly selection gluten-free menus (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the main restaurants on most of its ships. On MSC Armonia, MSC Sinfonia, MSC Opera and MSC Lirica guests can find only a limited selection of pre-packaged gluten-free snacks such as biscuits, croissants, sponge cakes and muffins. Guests with food intolerances and/or allergies must inform MSC Cruises of their needs via the Special Needs Form and, once on board, confirm their requirements at Reception-Guest Service and/or with the Maître d’hôtel.
Kosher meals (pre-packaged breakfast, lunch and dinner) may be available on board for an additional charge of €25/$30 pp/day. Kosher meals can be consumed in the main restaurants and must be booked at least 30 days before ship’s departure.
Halal products (beef, lamb and poultry) may be available on board following former request of the guest at least two months before departure.
Vegetarian and Vegan-friendly dishes are incorporated into our main restaurant menus and buffet restaurant culinary offer.
We can accommodate most special dietary requirements in our main restaurants where there is a greater degree of control over the production and service of special meals. We cannot guarantee no cross-contamination at the buffet.

All on board staff receive special in-house training that sensitizes them to the needs of passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, and which prepares them to provide any necessary assistance.

Guests are required to submit a special needs form to specialneeds@msccruisesusa.com 30 days before sailing.

Peritoneal dialysis must be performed by the guest in their cabin. Guests are responsible for bringing all necessary supplies and solutions. Guests must also complete a Special Needs Form (45 days prior to sailing).

Hemodialysis can only be booked through the authorized agency  Viaggi Piu booking@viaggipiu.eu. This is only available on limited sailings.

Guests should inform MSC Cruises of special needs at the time of booking, or at the latest 45 days before departure. After this deadline, we may be unable to provide the level of assistance required.

Certified Service dogs are permitted to sail if all required documentation is provided.  Guests are required to submit a special needs form to
specialneeds@msccruisesusa.com  30 days before sailing.  Documentation that is required includes but not limited to:

 

• Verification that the animal is a service dog with a brief explanation of what the animal has been trained to perform
• Vaccination certificate
• Veterinarian certificate stating that animal is healthy
• Department of Agriculture permits

All requests are sent directly to MSC Cruises and reviewed internally. Some requests may require closer examination from a practical or medical point of view, which will be carried out by a specialized internal committee. In all cases, passenger details will be handled with absolute discretion, in accordance with our privacy policy.

If requests are received during working day, responses are sent out immediately. In some cases, however, closer examination may be necessary and replies may take several days.

Yes, provided that they are fully independent.

All decks and public areas of our ships are accessible to guests with reduced mobility.

Yes, all ships in the fleet contain a number of specially fitted cabins with extra floor space and more room for movement. These cabins should be requested at the time of booking.

Yes, you can. Scooters must be stored and batteries recharged in your cabin which is fitted with 110V sockets (US type sockets) and 220V sockets (German type sockets) avoiding to connect when using the hairdryer. Keep in mind that the scooter minimizes the available space within your cabin.

 

Due to safety considerations, wheelchairs and scooters cannot be stored in the corridors. Your personal scooter should be able to fit in a standard cabin with a limited entry doorway (58 cm on MSC Divina and MSC Armonia, 68 cm on MSC Lirica, MSC Sinfonia and MSC Opera, 62 cm on the others). If your scooter is larger than the dimension reported for your chosen ship, you should book an H cabin or rent a smaller scooter. Segways and other similar vehicles cannot be operated on board. They shall be confiscated and can be taken off the ship to be used while in port. Also please note that the aluminium gangways used if the ramp cannot be operated are less than 80 cm wide

Guests are advised to consult their National Health Service prior to the cruise for information regarding recommended vaccinations. MSC Cruises declines all responsibility for guests who do not adhere to the recommendations on the prevention of infectious diseases or do not have the appropriate vaccinations to enter a particular port during the cruise.

The Centres for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) has issued guidance advising against travel in zones affected by the Zika virus for women who are pregnant and their partners as well as for women who are trying to become pregnant. 

In connection with this, MSC Cruises offers pregnant guests and the people travelling with her in the same cabin the opportunity to cancel free of charge their cruise to countries affected by Zika or rebook using cruise credit to another destination of their liking among the worldwide destinations that MSC Cruises offers to be utilized within a 24 month period. Guests should provide a copy of a medical certificate confirming their existing pregnancy.

Guests who wish to find out additional information about the Zika virus should either contact their health care provider physician or visit the CDC Website: 

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/hc-providers/pregnant-woman.html
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0801-zika-travel-guidance.html