health & MEDICAL

Our onboard medical facilities meet or exceed the standards for cruise ship medical centers adopted by CLIA and include basic diagnostic and treatment abilities, however the ship’s medical centers are not required to be and are not equipped to the same standards as a land-based hospital. They are staffed by full-time registered doctors and nurses, including paramedics on some ships. In addition to twice-daily clinic hours, medical staff are available 24 hours a day in an emergency.

 

Our Medical Centers are intended to provide acute care for illness and accidents that may occur while on holiday and not to provide long-term care for patients with chronic illnesses or as a substitute for regular health care. The medical staff on board is not available for daily care unless you are hospitalized in the ship’s medical Center. You must be able to care for yourself, including dressing, eating, and attending the ship's safety drills. " If you cannot care for yourself independently in these areas, please make arrangements to ensure you can do so.

 

If guests become ill or injured during the voyage and the diagnostic and/or care needs exceed the capabilities of the on-board medical Center, guests will be transferred to medical facilities ashore.

 

Charges for medical services rendered on board are added to your shipboard account, and an itemized account will be provided to submit to your insurance company.

Please note that many health insurance plans do not cover the cost of medical care at sea, in foreign countries, or for air evacuation unless this has been specifically arranged. Guests are encouraged to obtain travel medical insurance before travel to be reimbursed for services rendered.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

MSC recommends that guests pack enough medication to last 14 days (about 2 weeks) after the end of their cruise. We strongly recommend carrying some medication with you in your purse or carry-on bag while traveling. Remember to leave all medication in its original container. We recommend carrying a prescription record or written list of your medications in case they are lost. The list should include the name of the drug, dosage and times taken. In case of emergency, the Medical Centre can assist in replacing medications, however if the exact item is not carried on board, an equivalent may be issued.

Please note that the cabin coolers are not fridges and therefore are not suitable for refrigerated medications. We suggest that you bring cool bags with ice blocks, or request medication cold storage in the medical Center. Medication stored in the medical center fridge can only be accessed during opening hours.

Restrictions may apply to travelling with certain controlled drugs. Guests are responsible for ensuring they meet any specific requirements for the countries they are travelling through. It is recommended that guests carry and retain a signed, dated explanatory medical letter from their treating physician detailing the indication for use of any prescription medication. Onboard staff will not routinely ask to see the documentation; however, it may be requested if there are queries by local authorities or additional information is required.

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link  Special Needs Form

All decks, public areas and tenders are designed to be as accessible as possible for guests with reduced mobility. Some ports or tender services may not be accessible with a mobility device. In addition, there are varying numbers of specially fitted-out cabins available on each ship in the fleet. For safety reasons, guests requiring assistance may be requested to travel with a carer.


Wheelchairs are available on board for guests to use during embarkation, disembarkation, and emergencies only. Guests that require constant use of a wheelchair or any other form of support must bring their own equipment with them. It is the responsibility of the guest to check with the relevant producers/suppliers that this equipment is safe to take on board and use on a cruise ship, and to organize both its delivery to the departure terminal in good time for embarkation, and its collection at the end of the cruise. Due to limited safety constraints on some cruises, it is important to inform MSC Cruises of your need to bring the mobility device (wheelchair/scooter) at the time of the booking

For detailed information on the ports of call and excursions suitable for guests who experience mobility problems, read the relevant pages in this section, and once on board check the accuracy of the information provided.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

MSC Cruises SA does not permit guests who be more than 23 weeks pregnant at any time during the cruise to sail onboard. This is for maternal and fetal safety, as specialist obstetric and neonatal care is not available on board.

Pregnant guests who will be 23 or less than 23 weeks gestation  at any time during the cruise will need to submit a letter from their obstetrician/gynecologist confirming the following:

• Ultrasound confirmed expected date of delivery (EDD)
• That the pregnancy is low risk
• That the guest is fit to sail on board a ship with no immediate access to specialist obstetric or neonatal care

Letters should be sent by email to Special Needs at the moment of the booking and at least 2 weeks before sailing date. A copy must be presented at check-in on the day of embarkation.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

MSC Bellissima, MSC Divina, MSC Euribia, MSC Fantasia, MSC Grandiosa,  MSC Meraviglia, MSC Preziosa, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview,  MSC Splendida, MSC Virtuosa, MSC World America (from 2025)  and MSC World Europa  have Braille signs in public areas, in lifts and at the entrance to the cabins; all the ships have deck indicators in the lifts and fully accessible public areas, decks and tenders. For their safety, and depending on their level of disability, guests may be requested to travel with a carer or service dog.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

Guests with partial hearing disabilities can travel alone, only if they request the installation of a TDD System kit in their cabin. This kit, available in limited numbers on all ships, includes light and vibrating devices, a text phone and an analogue alarm clock.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

Guests undergoing peritoneal dialysis treatment can travel as normal, bringing with them all medicines and equipment that may be required during the cruise. 
MSC Cruises does not provide individual hemodialysis.

Guests who are stable and able to independently manage home peritoneal dialysis may sail on cruises that do not include trans-ocean crossings or remote itineraries.
Guests will be responsible for supplying all equipment, medications and supplies necessary to self-perform dialysis.

 

Guests should contact their medical supply company to arrange for dialysis supplies for the entire cruise. Guests are responsible for ensuring adequate supplies of dialysis fluids are on board stored in their cabin before sailing.

The shipboard medical staff are not trained in management of peritoneal dialysis.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

Children with special needs have normal access to all on-board services and facilities. Although the entertainment staff do not offer a childcare service, they are trained to provide a wide range of entertainment aimed specifically at children. Please note that no one-to-one supervision service is offered on board our ships.

All children, including those with special needs, are assigned to a certain entertainment area depending on their age. If necessary, children or young people with special needs can be placed in a lower age group (with the agreement of their parents), or they can take part in specific activities, together with their parents if required.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

MSC Cruises S.A. makes every effort to accommodate our guests' dietary requirements whenever possible.

 

We keep special dietary needs in mind when planning our menus and serving our meals.

 

MSC Cruises S.A. is aware that some foods may cause an allergic reaction in certain guests due to intolerance of some ingredients such as the 14 major recognized allergens listed in the Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011; therefore, guests are invited to inform the Company of any such allergy at the time of booking but not later than 30 days prior to sailing (by duly filling out the Special Needs form). We further ask guests to report such allergy or intolerance to Reception - Guest Service and the Maître d’hôtel in the Main Dining Room upon first boarding the ship and prior to consuming any food or beverage onboard. Although there are several options at our various restaurants, special dietary and food requests can be accommodated in our main dining rooms only.

 

Despite our efforts, we cannot exclude the possibility of cross contamination between foods. We recommend our guests who are aware of allergies or intolerances always bring with them their emergency medications as prescribed by the doctor to be able to react in case of any allergic reaction.

 

When booking a tour with a meal included or when dining at Ocean Cay, please remember to always communicate your allergy/intolerance to the appropriate staff.

For medical reasons or for infants, guests can specifically request some food to be blended onboard. Guests can also bring their special sealed food on board, following written approval from the Company. Products to be taken onboard should respect EU food labelling / packaging regulations, should not have imminent expiry date, once open should be consumed as per instruction on the label. Inside your cabin you find a cooler, which is not a fridge, therefore it cannot be used for storing food. It is recommended to bring with you freezing bags. No homemade food is allowed. The onboard personnel is not authorized to store or manipulate (cook, heat ect) food that our guests bring on board.

 

To inform us of your special need or special requirement, please fill in the form at the following link Special Needs Form

Guests are advised to consult their National Health Service prior to the cruise for information regarding recommended vaccinations. MSC Cruises declines all responsibility for guests who do not adhere to the recommendations on the prevention of infectious diseases or do not have the appropriate vaccinations to enter a particular port during the cruise.