Princess Cruises announced that it would cancel all cruises from US ports until May 14 – more than a year after the industry was halted in mid-March last year.
The princess herself was affected by the epidemic early on: two of her ships, namely Diamond Princess And the The Grand PrincessIt was one of the first ships to isolate passengers due to infection with the Coronavirus.
Previously, Princess Cruises had canceled all itineraries until March 31. The additional cancellations come as the cruise line works on restart plans that will cater The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a “conditional sailing framework” in October.
The additional suspension also applies to European cruises scheduled to take place before May 15, Negin Kamali, a spokesperson for Princess Cruises, told USA TODAY.
The Carnival Cruise Line also announced the extension of the sailing suspension, Cancellation of cruises Scheduled until March 31 in US waters.
Carnival has also canceled specific domestic itineraries in the fall and one international cruise in June, according to a statement provided by company spokesperson Vance Jolyksen.
While many of the changes to the schedule relate to regulations caused by the pandemic, including flight length restrictions, some are also linked to a return to the dry dock agenda.
Cancellations include:
- All sailings from US ports until March 31.
- Freedom Carnival 10 April Sailing from Galveston.
- Carnival Miracle cruises from San Diego and San Francisco through September 16.
- Carnival Liberty Sail Cruises from Port Canaveral from September 17th until October 18th.
- Carnival Sunshine Sail from Charleston from October 11th until November 13th.
- The 15-day Carnival Spirit cruise from Singapore to Brisbane is scheduled to depart on June 12.
“We regret the disappointment of our guests, as we can see from our reservation activity that there is clearly pent-up demand on Carnival cruises,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president, in the statement.
Duffy added that the cruise line plans to resume operations in 2021 through a “phased approach”, the strategy of the cruise line’s parent company, Carnival Corp. It was mentioned frequently Since the outbreak of the epidemic.
The cancellations come as the United States is seeing a continuous upward trend in COVID-19 cases. It reached 21 million cases Tuesday eveningIn just over four days since 20 million cases were reported, Johns Hopkins data shows. And the Georgia became the fifth country To report a case of the most contagious virus strain first identified in the UK, joining Colorado, California, Florida and New York.
P&O Cruises Australia, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, also announced the cancellation of its New Zealand cruises on Wednesday through April.
P&O Cruises Australia extends its rolling stand of operations in New Zealand to departures on April 25, 2021 and earlier, as the cruise line and the broader industry continue to work with government and public health authorities in time to re-sail, the company said in a statement provided by company spokeswoman Lindy Lamy .
The cruise line plans to return to New Zealand in July 2022 for a period of 150 days in the region.
“We know there are much better days ahead and remain positive about the resumption of cruises.” Stuhr Mermel, Head of Cruise Line, said in the statement: “While we have paused operations, P&O Cruises along with the broader industry is wisely using the time to plan returns for cruises. Navy”.
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Contributing: Adriana Rodriguez and Jessica Flores
