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The MSC Virtuosa in front of the Dubai skyline: In theory, travelers from Russia can board in the Emirates and various other embarkation ports.
Jean Claude RaemyEditor Economics
Blick reader reporter Bruno C.* was recently on a cruise with MSC Cruises in the United Arab Emirates. From there he reported: “We are very surprised that the majority of the passengers come from Russia.” His discussions with ship personnel revealed that this had been the case for a long time.
What bothers him is not the Russian passengers themselves. But that a shipping company headquartered in Switzerland – MSC Cruises is based in Geneva – continues to do business with Russian passengers despite the war in Ukraine.
Legally clean
When asked by Blick, MSC Cruises stated: “We respect the laws of the countries in which our ships operate.” In addition, MSC Cruises must also comply with the laws and regulations of the home country, i.e. Switzerland. Switzerland has largely adopted the EU sanctions against Russia. These include above all import and export bans in the goods sector and financial transactions. Travel restrictions have also been imposed. As a result, no airlines are currently flying from Russia to the EU/Schengen area, including Switzerland.
However, such restrictions do not exist in other countries. As of January 2023, citizens and residents of the Russian Federation can enter 83 countries without a visa. This also includes popular holiday destinations such as Egypt, Thailand, the Emirates or Turkey. Even destinations close to the USA, such as Mexico or Costa Rica, are open to them. “Guests can board from a port of their choice as long as there are no restrictions on their entry or stay in the country from which the ship departs,” notes MSC in this regard.
Russians not residing in Russia
As the total number of available vacation destinations for Russians has decreased, more tourists are now found in vacation destinations that are still “allowed”. This could explain why the share of Russian passengers on ships in the Middle East has increased.
But MSC Cruises denies that this is the case at all. Specific figures on Russian guests are not given, but in Geneva MSC speaks of “few passengers” from Russia: “It should be noted that most of the few Russian-speaking people who have recently traveled on one of our ships are either citizens other countries or Russian citizens residing in other countries.”
Finally, a Russian resident in Switzerland can book a cruise ticket or hotel stay in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, for example, and travel there just like any other non-Swiss resident here, without their presence or transit being restricted by Switzerland or the UAE. Last but not least, it could be that supposedly Russian-speaking passengers are not Russians at all – but maybe Ukrainians or people who speak another, similar-sounding Slavic language.
Bookings from Russia possible
But: It is quite possible for a person living in Russia to travel on an MSC ship. Because MSC Cruises is obviously different from other shipping companies. In May 2022, the Union of Russian Tour Operators reported that, without public announcement, Carnival Corporation stopped selling cruises to “citizens residing in the territory of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.” would. However, trips with MSC Cruises are still available through their Russian general agent PAC Group.
A look at the PAC Group website shows that MSC travel was still bookable for Russian residents in 2022; for 2023, however, only again at the end of the year. MSC Cruises does not want to go into detail about this information. Competitor TUI Cruises explains that no trips are sold in the Russian source market. It’s the same with Aida Cruises.
The Ukraine war hits the cruise business
Soon after the outbreak of war, all major cruise lines gave up their routes to and from Russia. Instead of St. Petersburg, more and more Baltic ports were approached. According to estimates by the British shipping company Panache Cruises, the Russian economy has lost the equivalent of more than 110 million francs so far. River cruises on Russian rivers have also been discontinued. Shipping companies cannot deploy ships stationed there.
Last but not least, the war has increased the personnel problem on ships. Many crew passengers usually come from Ukraine. But because of the war, Ukrainians are currently unable to work on ships.
* Name changed by editors