Cruise companies start cancelling 2021 holidays
Smaller, charter cruise firms were among the first to start cancelling 2021 sailings last month but now bigger lines have joined their ranks, according to The Independent.
Seabourn, owned by the Carnival Corporation, has cancelled upcoming sailings on three of its vessels.
Trips on Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation will be cancelled up to 25 November 2020 and 20 December 2020 respectively. But trips on Seabourn Sojourn, which offers the company’s World Cruise experience, will be cancelled until 24 May 2021.
The company said that “the decision to cancel additional voyages is a proactive action to deal with the circumstances continuing to evolve from the global response to the Covid-19 situation”.
“We’ve been saying for some time that our resumption of service will come gradually, and this action reflects that discussion. The health, safety and well-being of our guests, crew and the people in destinations we visit remain a top priority,” says Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn.
“Like many who watch the travel industry, we are encouraged by the signs emerging around the world that point to travel’s progress toward return. When our expert science and medical advisors and our destinations support the ability to resume travel on Seabourn, we’ll be ready.”
Guests on affected sailings will be refunded, with the exception of those who have booked the World Cruise experience, which will be postponed until 2022.
UK based P&O cruises, which is also owned by Carnival Corporation, has extended its cancellations as well.
All of its trips will be cancelled up to 12 November 2020. However, Aurora’s Caribbean and South America Adventure and Arcadia’s World Cruise holidays, which are longer itineraries, have been cancelled up to March 2021.
In a statement, the company said: “We have acknowledged the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) guidance and extended our pause in operations by a further month. It is clear that whilst the guidance is in place, it’s not advisable for us to resume sailing.”
Affected customers will be offered refunds.
The FCO continues to advise against travelling on cruises, although several lines have restarted or are restarting holidays.
Read the full article in The Independent.
