After a ban of more than two years, individual shore leave on cruises are now allowed again in Italy. At the German shipping companies Phoenix, TUI Cruises and AIDA Cruises, some passengers have been able to go ashore again since the end of March 2022 without an organized group excursion. Only Costa keeps a low profile as to whether individual shore leave would now be permitted again at the Italian shipping company.
Italy has been particularly strict since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic and had banned individual shore leave from cruise ships. The basis for this was the Italian “Decree-Law 25 March 2020, n. 19“ – “Urgent measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19”. This emergency law has been supplemented and extended again and again, including the paragraph on cruise shore excursions. They are explicitly mentioned in the comprehensive set of regulations and were previously only permitted as part of organized group excursions.
The equivalent wording for shore excursions on cruises was: “Stopovers are only in the States and Territories allowedthe listed in Lists A, B and C of Schedule 20. Individual excursions where the cruise operators cannot take special measures to prevent infection, are forbidden.“ – Which was interpreted in such a way that such measures can only be implemented as part of an organized group excursion.
The emergency decree will now expire on March 31, 2022, so that individual shore leave is possible. Apparently, however, the shipping companies do not have to wait until the end of the month. Because already this week, individual shore leave was approved by many shipping companies, such as Phoenix Reisen, TUI Cruises and AIDA Cruises. However, this will probably depend on permits in each individual port until March 31st.
The Italian decree was particularly hard hit by Costa, which, with its headquarters in Italy and with ships flying the Italian flag, has so far not been able to allow individual shore leave outside of Italy. After the expiry of the decree, passengers could probably go ashore again individually at Costa at all port stops inside and outside of Italy. Costa did not want to make any statement on this, even on a specific request.
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