Cruise & Cruise Line

Greece to Reopen Six Cruise Ports on August 1

Image: PHOTO: Rhodes is one of six Greek ports reopening to cruise traffic this August. (photo via titoslack/iStock Unreleased)
Image: PHOTO: Rhodes is one of six Greek ports reopening to cruise traffic this August. (photo via titoslack/iStock Unreleased)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 10:56 AM ET, Thu July 30, 2020

Greece will welcome back cruise traffic at six ports beginning Saturday, August 1.

According to Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Piraeus, Rhodes, Heraklion, Volos, Corfu and Katakolo will reopen to cruise ships complying with elevated health and safety protocols designed to limit the spread of coronavirus.

That means that all passengers will require a negative COVID-19 test result produced at least 72 hours prior to boarding.

"All cruise ships are welcome in Greece, so as to offer a unique experience to all their passengers," the country's Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis wrote in a letter to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), MSC Cruises, Costa and TUI Cruises. "Greece is the first country to respond to the cruise sector, introducing health protocols especially for this form of tourism. The health procedures that will apply on cruise ships under the supervision of the Greek authorities are based on EU Healthy Gateways standards and adjusted to Greek legislation and the local conditions."

Once a cruise ship docks and passes inspection at one of the aforementioned locations, it will then have access to all of the other ports.

Greece began welcoming back foreign visitors from approved countries last month.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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