Italian cruise line Costa Cruises will not restart its cruises until May, the company said on Monday, due to travel restrictions linked to the third wave of coronavirus.
The company, which is owned by Carnival, pushed back its relaunch date to May 1 from March 27.
Anti-coronavirus measures in Italy "do not allow us to offer passengers a travel experience that meets expectations," especially regarding excursions, the company said in a statement.
Faced with a rise in Covid-19 infections, Italy put most of its territory under a new lockdown last Monday.
More than 105,000 people have died of coronavirus in Italy.
The Costa Smeralda cruise liner will be the first to launch on May 1, with trips lasting three to seven days in Italy, with stops in Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Messina and Cagliari.
"Health conditions permitting," the Costa Smeralda will also resume its week-long cruises in the western Mediterranean starting June 12, with stops in Italy (Savona, Civitavecchia and Palermo), France (Marseille) and Spain (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca).
Another ship, the Costa Luminosa, is scheduled to depart from Trieste on May 16 for a week-long cruise to Greece and Croatia.
The company said it will follow a strict health protocol, including limiting the number of passengers, tests for all passengers and crew, temperature-taking on board and at disembarkation and the wearing of masks when required.
The Costa Deliziosa had resumed sailing in September after a five-month break due to the epidemic, calling only at Italian ports. But after Italy's government decided to ban cruises during the holiday season, Costa Cruises on December 20 suspended its voyages.
Before the pandemic, Italy's 14.5 billion euro ($17 billion) cruise industry — Europe's largest — was a key economic driver that supported nearly 53,000 jobs, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
