After two months of voluntary suspension of operations, cruise ships will finally resume sailings in Brazil. Clia Brazil announced on Wednesday the resumption of the cruise season starting on March 5. The rest of the season will feature 19 itineraries and will run through April 18, while the 2022/23 season will officially start in October 2022. Last week, Brazil Ministry of Health released a document allowing cruise ships to resume sailings on March 7.

There are five cruise ships in Brazil but only four will resume cruises. While MSC Cruises will restart sailings on all three ships, Costa Cruises is taking a more cautious approach with the restart of Costa Diadema, while Costa Fascinosa cruises are canceled.

MSC Cruises announced the return of cruising on the 5th on its ships: the MSC Preziosa will depart from Rio, MSC Seaside and the MSC Splendida will depart from Santos. The company also announced the opening of sales for four new short cruises aboard the MSC Preziosa.

A fellow crew member aboard the MSC Preziosa said that they reached Rio de Janeiro on March 3, and they are getting ready to welcome guests on March 5, starting with a 3-day cruise.

Costa Cruises will resume the season on March 14, aboard Costa Diadema, and with a changed itinerary. "We have been dealing with a very uncertain scenario in recent months and that's why we chose to resume our activities only with the Costa Diadema ship", said Dario Rustico, Costa Cruises president for South and Central America.

Costa Diadema will sail 3, 4 and 7 night voyages with departures from Santos, Rio de Janeiro and Itajai. The ship will visit the cities of Itajaí, Rio de Janeiro, Búzios and Ilhabela, replacing the stopovers in Salvador and Ilhéus.

Cruises aboard Costa Fascinosa are canceled. "Guests scheduled to board the Costa Fascinosa from March 7 will be automatically re-accommodated at no additional cost on cruises aboard the Costa Diadema, considering the departure date close to the original cruise, similar duration and the same categories and cabins purchased", said the company.

Due to the surge of covid-19 cases onboard the cruise ships and in Brazil in December last year, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) recommend suspension of the season. As a result, on January 3rd, Clia Brazil announced a voluntary pause in operations until January 21st, which was extended several times.