Last Major Cruise Line Ship At Sea Finally Docks in Italy, Passengers Cleared to Disembark

(12:22 p.m. EDT) -- Costa Cruises' Costa Deliziosa arrived in Genoa, Italy, today, where the ship's 1,519 remaining passengers are due to disembark, marking the final cruise ship owned by a major line to dock.  

The ship called in at Barcelona on April 20 where Spanish, Portuguese and French passengers were allowed to disembark, before the Carnival Corporation-owned vessel continued to Italy.

The line has confirmed that no cases of coronavirus have been reported in passengers or the 898 crew onboard.

A statement released by the line read:

"Costa Deliziosa has safely moored today in the port of Genoa at around 1.30 p.m. (CET) having arrived late compared to its original schedule, due to the strong gusts of wind that have interested the area since yesterday afternoon.

"Following the onboard inspections, carried out by the local health authorities, disembarking operations for the return home of the 1519 guests on board the ship have begun.

"Operations will also continue in the upcoming days as per the transfer schedule, which the company has managed to arrange despite the current complexities due to travel restrictions imposed at a global level by governments, aimed at reducing the spread of the infection.

"The health situation on board, where in addition to guests there are also 898 crew members, does not present any public health concern and no registered cases of Covid-19.

"Costa Crociere wishes to thank the Italian Ministry of Transportation, the Italian Coast Guard and all the local authorities involved for their constructive collaboration initiated in the past few days for the return of Costa Deliziosa, its guests and crew members."

Costa Deliziosa departed Venice on a world cruise on January 5, 2020 – more than two months before the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11.

When countries began closing borders and turning cruise ships away, Costa Deliziosa was partway through its 113-day voyage that was due to end in Venice on April 26, 2020.

The ship's passengers last touched land more than a month ago, on March 14 in Australia. Since then the ship has only made technical stops to refuel and take on provisions with no one allowed off.

Nearly all of the world's cruise lines suspended global fleet operations in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government travel restrictions. In most cases lines have since extended their original suspension end date.

Costa Cruises suspended its global fleet operations on March 23, 2020, which was originally due to end on April 30. The line then extended the suspension on April 10 through May 30.

This follows news that two more world cruises were brought to an end on April 20, with MSC Cruises' MSC Magnifica arriving in Marseille and Princess Cruises' Pacific Princess arriving in LA.

There is just one cruise ship left sailing: Artania, owned by German line Phoenix Reisen, which is due back in Bremerhaven on May 31, with stops in Bali and Manila to drop off crew. It has just eight passengers onboard, who chose to travel back by sea due to health reasons.