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Greece is officially reopening for Cruise Ships starting on August 1st, Tourism Minister, Haris Theoharis confirmed in a letter to the International Cruise Association (CLIA).
Greece will become the first country to officially allow large cruise ships to make multiple port stops since the cruise industry shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic
The three largest cruise lines that operate in Greece, TUI, Costa and MSC were also informed of the reopening in order to prepare their ships for relaunch in the area.
The tourism minister officially announced that from August 1, cruise ships will be allowed to visit six ports when entering Greece:
- Piraeus
- Rhodes
- Heraklion
- Volos
- Corfu
- Katakolo
After their first port stop in one of the above locations, cruise ships will be cleared to travel to any other Greek port included in their itinerary.
Theoharis clarified that this regime will change only if new epidemiological conditions arise.
“All cruise ships are welcome in Greece, in order to offer a unique experience to all their passengers,” the minister said in his letter.
He also stressed that “Greece is the first country that has responded to the cruise industry and introduced health protocols especially for cruising.”
“The health procedures that will be applied under the supervision of the Greek authorities on cruise ships, are based on the published standards of the European Union, while they have been adapted to Greek legislation,” added the Minister.
Theoharis asked the large international cruise agencies to recommend that their customers make trips to Greece outside the summer season. “The current season extends to the end of the year,” he underlined.
As of July 5th, citizens from these countries can currently travel to Greece on Cruise Ships with no restriction or quarantines:
- Algeria
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lichtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of Korea
- Romania
- Rwanda
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
Greece has also made exceptions for other countries not listed that will need to provide a negative Covid-19 test result.
Greece officially reopened for tourism starting June 15 to select countries and additional countries from July 1, 2020.
Greece will be the first country to allow the cruise ships to return and make port stops.
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