MSC Cruises has launched its summer 2022 campaign, confirming that independent shore excursions will apply to all sailings during the season.

Guests will be free to disembark and independently explore ports of call wherever local regulations allow it.

MSC Cruises said it had worked with authorities in all the regions and countries in which the ships operate to ensure its “protocol meets, exceeds and adapts to the required regional and national health and safety measures”.

Other elements of the line’s Cruise with Confidence programme include the line’s health and safety protocols, “clear and flexible booking policy”, and vaccination and testing requirements.

All guests aged 12 and above will be required to be fully vaccinated, and guests aged two and above will need to submit a negative test prior to boarding. All ship crew will also be fully vaccinated and regularly tested.

In addition, all cruises can be rescheduled free of charge up to 15 days prior sailing – 21 days for fly/cruise bookings – for any reason.

Bookings will also be fully protected by Covid-19 protection insurance, covering events such as testing positive before boarding or at any point during the cruise.

MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato said: “We were able to lead the restart of our industry in August last year thanks to a comprehensive and flexible health and safety protocol that was designed to adapt to the evolution of the pandemic ashore and has since set the standard across the travel and hospitality sector.

“With this we were able to continue to offer the highest level of protection to our guests, crew and communities where our ships call to responsibly and safely welcome on our ships over one million guests for their holiday at sea.

“With the pandemic continuing to evolve, we understand the importance of having clear information to reassure our guests that they can book a cruise with confidence and with flexibility to give them total peace of mind.

“We are thus extending our successful Cruise with Confidence guarantee to all cruises through summer 2022 to continue to offer booked and new guests a safe, flexible and enjoyable holiday option. Reinforced with the required Covid-19 protection plan, this insurance gives guests extra security before and during the cruise.

“Finally, we also see the return of a full experience ashore with the reintroduction of independent shore excursions where local regulations allow this – there really has been no better time to book a cruise vacation.”