Three cruise lines owned by Carnival Corp. – Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn – announced on Tuesday that they were canceling more cruises, now extending into the summer.
Princess’s prolonged pause will affect the Caribbean, California coast, Mexico, and Mediterranean cruises via June 30, including sailings of the Caribbean Princess, Enchanted Princess, and Ruby Princess.
Holland America also canceled European cruises in May and June that had been scheduled for the Nieuw Statendam, Volendam, and Westerdam, plus other itineraries associated with the cruises. The extension affects trips that had been scheduled to depart via June 30.
Seabourn is canceling European departures for the Seabourn Sojourn, Seabourn Encore, and Seaborn Ovation till July 3, plus Seabourn Quest departures till Nov. 7.
“Our highest priorities are compliance, environmental protection, and the health, safety, and well-being of our guests, crew, and the individuals in locations we visit,” Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn, mentioned within the announcement. “We understand guests are desperate to travel and, even though we have prolonged our pause in operations a bit further, we proceed to prepare to welcome them back once again.”
All three cruise lines mentioned they’d offer guests on canceled trips the chance to move their reservations to an equivalent cruise in 2022 at the same charge. Guests who prefer to either receive a credit toward a different cruise or receive a refund will also have those options available, the cruise lines added.
Cruise lines around the world have been preparing to resume service after coronavirus-necessitated shutdowns, and some already have returned to limited cruising. Within the U.S., cruise lines will need to meet the requirements set in a CDC order to show that they can operate safely.
For now, some operators are looking for other services they can offer. Last week, Holland America and Princess announced they were offering land-based vacation packages in Alaska for this summer as cruises to “The Last Frontier” appear increasingly unlikely for this yr.
But cruise lines may still be dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic for a while. Six workers on a new Royal Caribbean ship under construction in Germany recently tested positive for COVID-19, and several passengers are suing Disney Cruise Line claiming they caught COVID-19 while on a cruise last March.
