| USA TODAY
Cruises: what will they be like during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 95% of the cruise industry, has introduced mandatory requirements to be able to embark again.
USA TODAY
Princess Cruises has announced that it will cancel all cruises from US ports by May 14 – more than a year after the industry stopped in mid-March last year.
Princess himself was affected by the pandemic from the start: two of his ships, the Diamond Princess and the Grand Princess, were among the first ships to quarantine passengers because of coronavirus infections.
Previously, Princess Cruises canceled all itineraries until March 31. Additional cancellations occur while the cruise line is working on restart plans that will comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Framework for Conditional Sailing announced in October.
The additional suspension also applies to European cruises scheduled before May 15, Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali told USA TODAY.
Carnival Cruise Line also announced an extension of its sailing suspension, canceling cruises scheduled until March 31 in American waters.
Carnival also canceled selected domestic itineraries in the fall and an international international cruise in June, according to a statement provided by spokesman Vance Gulliksen.
While many of the schedule changes are related to pandemic-induced regulations, including travel restrictions, some are also related to rescheduled dry dock work.
Cancellations include:
- All voyages from US ports until March 31.
- Carnival Freedom on April 10 from Galveston.
- Departures from the Carnival Miracle in San Diego and San Francisco until September 16.
- Departures from Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral from 17 September to 18 October.
- Departures from Charleston’s Carnival Sunshine from 11 October to 13 November.
- The 15-day Carnival Spirit trip from Singapore to Brisbane scheduled for June 12.
“We are sorry to disappoint our guests as we can see from our booking activity that there is clearly a pent-up demand for Carnival cruises,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, in the statement.
Duffy added that the cruise line plans to resume operations in 2021 with a “phased approach”, a strategy that the cruise line’s parent company, Carnival Corp., has frequently referred to since the beginning of the pandemic.
The cancellations occur at a time when the U.S. is seeing a continuing upward trend in COVID-19 cases, reaching 21 million cases on Tuesday night, just over four days since the 20 million case report, show Johns Hopkins data. And Georgia has become the fifth state to report a case of the most contagious virus strain first identified in the UK, joining Colorado, California, Florida and New York.
Another Carnival Corp. subsidiary, P&O Cruises Australia, also announced the cancellation of its New Zealand cruises in April.
“P&O Cruises Australia is extending its continued break from New Zealand operations to departures on and before April 25, 2021, as the cruise line and the industry in general continue to work with government and health officials public at the appropriate time to restart navigation, “the company said in a statement provided by spokesman Lindy Lamme.
The cruise line plans to return to New Zealand in July 2022 for a 150-day season in the area.
“We know that much better days will come and we remain optimistic about the resumption of cruises. While we pause operations, P&O Cruises, along with the broader industry, has been using time wisely to plan the return of cruises, ”said Sture Myrmell, president of the cruise line, in the statement.
‘I am ecstatic’: The COVID-19 vaccine inspires confidence among cruise passengers, the industry
Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez and Jessica Flores