Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) has announced the cancellation of more cruises.
The cruise line said that it was working to build and implement a plan to meet the requirements of the Framework for Resuming Cruise Ship Operations Order issued on 30th October by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cancelled Sailings:
• All embarkations from US homeports through 31st January;
• Additionally, Baltimore, Charleston, Jacksonville, Long Beach, Mobile, New Orleans and San Diego embarkations through 28th February;
• Embarkations on ‘Carnival Legend’ out of Tampa through 26th March next year.
Carnival also said it is building a gradual, phased in approach to resume guest operations in the US, which will focus initially on Miami and Port Canaveral, to be followed by Galveston.
In total, 16 CCL ships are currently following the CDC process for an eventual resumption of guest service in the in 2021, including the ‘Carnival Conquest’, ‘Dream’, ‘Ecstasy’, ‘Elation’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Glory’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Miracle’, ‘Panorama’, ‘Pride’, ‘Sensation’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Vista’.
The ‘Mardi Gras’, which is under construction in Finland, will also enter service next year.
In addition, CCL had previously cancelled other itineraries on four ships (‘Magic’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Valor’, and ‘Victory/Radiance’) that are scheduled to drydock in the first half of 2021. Carnival also previously cancelled operations in Australia through 2nd March, 2021.
“We are committed to meeting the CDC requirements and keeping our guests and business partners informed of our progress,” said Christine Duffy, CCL President (pictured). “The entire Carnival team appreciates the great support of our guests, travel advisers and business partners, and local officials in our homeports and destinations.”
Princess Cruises has also extended its pause in global operations:
• All cruises sailing through 31st March, 2021;
• All cruises longer than seven days sailing in and out of US ports through 1st November, 2021.
In addition, due to the uncertainty about when international travel restrictions might be lifted, Princess Cruises is extending its pause in operations for cruises departing in and out of Japan through 25th June, 2021.
“We are focused on preparing our ships to meet the CDC health and safety requirements for our eventual return to service,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises President. “We also appreciate the continued support we have received from our guests, partners and travel advisers, reinforcing for all of us why we do what we do.”
Holland America Line has followed suit, while P&O Cruises has extended its pause into April 2021 due to “uncertainty around European ports of call.”
“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,” said Paul Ludlow, P&O Cruises President. “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.”
