April the 9th, 2022 - Dubrovnik once had an enormous issue with cruise ships and hoards of day trippers steamrolling into the city, causing infrastructure issues and traffic jams. The pandemic changed all that, with the very first cruiser of 2022, MSC Fantasia, having arrived in the Pearl of the Adriatic on Thursday.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, MSC Fantasia, otherwise the first MSC vessel to arrive in the City of Dubrovnik this year, sailed into Dubrovnik's Port of Gruz on Thursday morning under the command of Captain Antonin Sammartan. This Fantasia class ship which can accommodate up to 4,300 passengers, will visit Dubrovnik on Thursdays until the end of the season, which is currently scheduled for September the 8th, 2022.

These giant ships of the MSC Cruises fleet will also visit the Croatian cities of Split, Zadar and Rijeka and achieve a total of 63 arrivals in various Croatian ports during this year's cruise season, which will end with its arrival in Split on November the 21st, 2022.

Next Saturday, another gigantic vessel, MSC Armonia, will sail into the City of Split for the first time, where its first passengers will board. This year's MSC Cruises offer includes boarding on the Eastern Mediterranean cruises in Split and Zadar on the MSC Armonia, with a tour of the Italian cities of Venice and Brindisi, and then the Greek Mykonos and Piraeus / Athens.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

11 June, 2021 - The very first large Dubrovnik cruise ship with passengers on board since the start of the pandemic arrrived today. This is a pieces of news many people in Dubrovnik have been waiting for for quite some time.

MSC Orchestra arrived to Dubrovnik this morning. It is the first big Dubrovnik cruise ship to bring passengers into the city after a long and costly silent period caused by the pandemic. This 294m long behemoth can house 2550 passengers in its 1275 cabins. It is not new to Dubrovnik as MSC ships are some of the most commonly seen cruise ships in the city's port. With the city’s tourism sector feeding so many local Dubrovnik families, the long awaited arrival of a thousand or so guests at one time is seen as nothing short of a blessing. This is exactly why Dubrovnik’s mayor Mato Frankovic was quick to point out the arrival of the ship and its significance on his social media.

Source: Mato Frankovic / Facebook

Dubrovnik’s love/hate relationship with modern day cruise ships has been an ongoing state of being for the last couple of decades or so. The cruise ship industry brought to the city a quick way of recuperating large numbers of guests after the Croatian Homeland war of the 1990’s, which left the city’s economy in a total shambles. Soon after the first ships started arriving back to Dubrovnik, it became clear that Croatia's southernmost city is a perfect short stop port for many. Cruise ships brought with them large number of guests and did wonders in prolonging the tourist season.

Of course, it’s not all good news. A large amount of people coming to the city for a short time means crowded streets and traffic jams once again, an old Dubrovnik problem. For many, the experience of Dubrovnik became lessened by the fact the movement along the main areas was at times very difficult. Overcrowding and the strain placed on the infrastructure became a real issue. Dubrovnik’s image of a pleasant destination perfect for longer stays is now under threat.

What’s Next?

With all this being said, it will be very interesting to see how cruise ships are going to fit into Dubrovnik’s tourism picture this year. There will be a few of them, most probably with reduced capacity and sales. This might be a unique opportunity to see whether cruise ships and Dubrovnik can finally settle their differences.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 22, 2021 - Which rules will MSC Cruise Ship guests in Croatia need to follow once they first arrive in Dubrovnik in June?

Jutarnji List reports that while other shipowners are still calculating or choosing cruises within national borders with the line of least resistance, the Geneva-based company MSC Cruises was the first to clearly and loudly confirm the flow of floating hotels in the port of Gruž this season. The arrival of the first cruiser has been agreed to for June 2021, and approved by the Dubrovnik Port Authority.

In the management of MSC Cruises, Jutarnji inquired about the safety protocols that Dubrovnik passengers need to follow this summer.

"Passengers must be tested before the cruise, but also in the middle of the cruise, with an antigen test before departure to cross the Italian border. The crew will not leave the ship just yet, they are being tested once a week, and the company has started a comprehensive crew vaccination program," points out Darija Semiz from MSC's marketing department.

There are also new rules for guests on cruise ships:

"Food and drinks are served only at the table. In addition to the standard menus, guests can view them on their mobile phone by scanning the QR code," says Semiz and explains further details of the itinerary:

"Destinations during the cruise are visited only as part of organized excursions of MSC Cruises, which means reduced vehicle capacity, testing of guides and drivers before starting work, and face masks are required, and passengers must not be separated from the group during the trip," said the Dubrovnik MSC Cruises representative.

"Passengers are required to wear masks in common areas, MSC has also provided smart bracelets that serve as a means of payment onboard, a cabin key, and to identify close contacts if necessary," Semiz said.

The MSC center reports that the vaccination program against COVID-19 for all crew members is becoming a vital element of the company's health and safety protocol, which has been in place since last August when the first ship began sailing regularly.

In the initial phase, MSC Cruises prioritized prevention to crew members, with ten ships announced in the cruise program for the summer of 2021 in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Priority is also given to the crews of the white fleet, which should re-sail the Caribbean from American ports and others that are preparing to re-sail.

The latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.