This Morning: Jane McDonald says cruise industry 'halted'
Cruise holidays have been served another devastating blow as two big-name cruise lines have further extended their suspension due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Carnival and Princess Cruises have both announced they will be axing sailings until spring 2021.
Carnival Cruises has outlined plans to pause sailings until March 31 in US waters.
It has further decided to cancel select itineraries until the Autumn months and some international cruises until June.
The cancellations include:
- All sailings from U.S. ports through March 31.
- Carnival Freedom’s April 10 sailing from Galveston.
- Carnival Miracle’s sailings from San Diego and San Francisco through Sept. 16.
- Carnival Liberty’s sailings from Port Canaveral from Sept. 17 through Oct. 18.
- Carnival Sunshine’s sailings from Charleston from Oct. 11 through Nov. 13.
- Carnival Spirit’s 15-day voyage from Singapore to Brisbane set to depart June 12.
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Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said: “We are sorry to disappoint our guests, as we can see from our booking activity that there is clearly a pent-up demand for cruising on Carnival.
“We appreciate their patience and support as we continue to work on our plans to resume operations in 2021 with a gradual, phased-in approach.”
Cruise guests impacted by the cancellation are being offered a future cruise credit and onboard credit. They can also request a full refund.
Meanwhile, Princess Cruises has announced the extension of all sailings from US ports until May 14, 2021.
European cruises with Princess are suspended until May 15.
Guests impacted by cancellations will receive 100 percent value of the cruise fare paid as a refundable future cruise credit, plus bonus non-refundable future cruise credit equal to 25 percent of the cruise fare paid. Guests may also request a refund.
What are the latest restart dates for other popular cruise lines?
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises, which is part of the Royal Caribbean brand, has put its restart date back until April 7, 2021.
The team says its “team of globally recognised scientific and medical experts, together with teams both on sea and on land, continue to focus on a healthy and safe return to service for our guests, crew and the communities we visit.”
Celebrity Cruises will be contacting guests and travel partners to share further details.
Customers whose holidays have been impacted will have the option of selecting a 125 percent future cruise credit, but this must be used by December 31, 2021.
Alternatively, they can opt for a full refund.
Internet, drinks and any shore excursion packages purchased in advance will be automatically refunded.
Cunard
Cunard has set out a proposed restart date of May 2021.
The cruise line says this decision has been made “due to the ongoing travel constraints in place across the world”.
Simon Palethorpe, president of Cunard: “After very careful consideration, we simply do not feel it would be sensible to start sailing again with our current schedule.”
Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line further suspended sailings at the end of 2020, axing its festive itineraries.
All sailings onboard Disney Fantasy, Disney Dream, Disney Wonder and Disney Magic are suspended until March 2021.
Customers booked on impacted sailings who have paid their reservation in full will be able to choose from a cruise credit to be used for a future sailing or a full refund.
Fred Olsen Cruise Line
Fred Olsen Cruise Line has set out a restart date of April 2021.
The Norwegian cruise firm is set to launch new sailings, as well as existing routes.
Fred Olsen Jr, chairman of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “We have really missed taking our guests on their holidays this year.
“Without our guests, there is no vibrancy, no life and no fun onboard our ships, and we can’t wait to be able to offer them the award-winning cruises for which we are renowned once again.”
Borealis will take to the waters from April 31, Bolette from May 28 and Balmoral from June 9.
MSC Cruises
MSC Cruises resumed Mediterranean sailings in August, however, due to new measures introduced by the Italian Government has been forced to cancel Mediterranean cruises onboard the MSC Grandiosa until January 10, and the MSC Magnifica until January 15.
Britons are currently unable to sail with MSC.
Antonio Paradiso, MSC Cruises UK managing director, said: “MSC Cruises is ready to welcome British and Irish residents when the guidance changes. We are working closely with CLIA and the relevant authorities to enable British and Irish guests to be welcome back on board our ships when the time is right.”
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line, along with its sister brands Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises have been cancelled until the end of March 2021.
Customers impacted by cancellations will receive a future cruise credit worth 125 percent of the cost paid. This is valid until December 31, 2022.
Customers who no longer wish to sail will be able to opt for a refund of the fare paid.
P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises has set out preliminary plans to resume sailings in April 2021.
Prior to this, the British firm had hopes of resuming in January.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever-changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.
“In addition, as the final payments are due for these cruises very soon we felt it was the right thing to do for our guests. We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel.”
Guest impacted by the latest changes will be offered a voucher worth 125 percent of their original booking which can be used for any sailing up to the end of March 2022.
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean and its brands, including Azamara and Celebrity Cruises, have pushed their restart date to March 2021.
Impacted guests will receive a 125 percent future cruise credit to be used by December 31, 2021.
They can also opt for a full refund.
Pre-purchased onboard packages will automatically be reimbursed.
Saga Cruises
Saga has set out initial restart dates of April and May for its ships.
The Spirit of Adventure is due to depart on its inaugural cruise as of May 4.
Meanwhile, the Spirt of Discovery is not due to sail until April 2021.
Passengers affected by cancellations are being contacted by Saga’s guest services team to discuss options.
Virgin Voyages
Virgin Voyages was due to make its maiden voyages in 2020, however, this has since been pushed back until May 9, 2021 when The Scarlet Lady ship will take to the waters.
The cruise line has rescheduled the launch of its second ship, Valiant Lady, until November 14.
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