After 2 months of voluntary suspension of sailings, cruise ships finally restart operations in Brazil.
On Wednesday, CLIA Brazil announced the resumption of the cruise season starting today, March 5. The rest of the cruise season features a total of 19 itineraries and will run through April 18.
The 2022-2023 season will officially commence in October 2022. Brazil Ministry of Health last week released a document allowing liners to restart sailings on March 7.
There are 5 cruise ships in Brazil but only 4 will restart cruises.
MSC Cruises will restart voyages on all 3 ships, but Costa Cruises is taking a cautious approach with the restart of Diadema.
Costa Fascinosa cruises were canceled.
MSC Cruises announced the return to operation on the 5th on its vessels - MSC Preziosa is due to depart from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), MSC Seaside and MSC Splendida will set sail from Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil). The cruise company also announced the opening of sales for 4 new short cruises aboard MSC Preziosa.
Costa Cruises is expected to restart the season on March 14 with Costa Diadema sailing on a changed itinerary. The ship will sail 3-, 4-, and 7-night voyages with departures from Itajai, Santos, and Rio de Janeiro.
Due to the surge of COVID cases on cruise ships and in Brazil in December 2020, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) recommended suspension of the season, and as a result, on January 3 CLIA Brazil announced a voluntary pause in sailings until January 21, which was extended a number of times.