The first Mediterranean cruise ship set sail on Sunday evening as Italy’s coronavirus lockdown has been lifted. To this end, cruise ship passengers had their temperatures checked and they took COVID-19 tests so they could embark on the journey.

The cruise ship company MSC made the procedures, for crew as well as passengers, part of its new health and safety protocols. The MSC Grandiosa, which was christened last year, departed for a seven-night cruise in the western Mediterranean.

Guests were asked to wear face masks in elevators and other areas where social distancing is not possible. The crew spent time in quarantine before the start of the cruise.

Earlier this month, the Italian government gave its approval for cruise ships to once again depart from Italy’s ports. But cruise ships are being limited to only 70 per cent capacity.

Among the port calls for the Grandiosa, MSC’s flagship, are Naples, Palermo, Sicily and Valletta, Malta.

Malta is one of four Mediterranean countries that Italy now requires travellers arriving from to have COVID-19 tests.

For now, MSC is limiting its guests to those who are residents of Europe’s 26-nation Schengen visa free travel zone.

MSC said every guest and crew member on board were given a wristband that “facilitates contactless transactions around the ship as well as providing contact and proximity tracing.”