Montenegro's Ministry of Health allows entry of cruise ships and lifts the ban which has been in force since March 2020, due to the pandemic.
The ban is to be lifted today, April 10, for cruise ships with medical facilities for PCR testing of passengers and crew members on a daily basis.
The Ministry of Health said that "the lifting of the ban on cruise ships entering nautical ports - marinas and trading ports open to international traffic - Bar, Budva, Kotor and Port Kumbor-Portonovi and Tivat (Gat I and Gat II) is the subject of analysis and consideration, concluding that this ban should be lifted on April 10, 2021, for cruise ships that have an authorized laboratory to perform microbiological testing for the presence of (SARS-CoV-2)."
In preparation for the summer tourist season, Montenegro's authorities said that the goal was to make it easier for tourists to enter and stay in the country, but also to preserve a stable epidemiological situation.
In the past month, a number of inquiries have been made by the major cruise companies like Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, MSC Cruises, showing interest under which conditions and when cruise ships will be allowed to dock in the ports of Montenegro, especially for Kotor which before the pandemic was the 3rd most visited cruise destination in the Adriatic.