The Cruise Pause Begins!

The most significant update is Princess Cruises’ unprecedented decision to voluntarily suspend its global cruising operations for 60 days. This move impacts the line’s fleet of 18 ships travelling globally and comes into effect from12 March. Voyages departing from 12 March through to 10 May have been cancelled, while those passengers currently aboard Princess ships up until 17 March will continue on their voyage until arriving at the next suitable disembarkation port. This is a significant move by the company that has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus outbreak with two of its ships – Diamond Princess and Grand Princess – having been directly impacted in recent months. Additionally, Viking Cruise Line will suspend their river cruising and ocean cruising operations from 12 March through to 10 April, while newly established Virgin Voyages has announced it will delay the Scarlett Lady’s introduction into regular service until August 2020. In other cruise developments, may companies are revising their cancellation policies to enable cruisers more flexibility to change or cancel future cruise sailings. Cunard Line and P&O Cruises have led the way in this area with Cunard president releasing a video online outlining the companies stringent procedures relating to health and safety as well as updated information relating to the flexibility of booking terms and conditions - check it out here: https://twitter.com/cunardline/status/1237809766015131649 Countries around the world are implementing travel restrictions on both airlines and cruise ships. The united states is implementing a travel ban on some European nations, while Spain and Norway have recently announced bans on cruise ship arrivals. This is obviously a fast moving and rapidly changing situation. Looking back at the history of ocean liners and cruise ships, there have been many time where epidemics or pandemics have seriously disrupted passenger travel around the world. However, for most of us, this is an unprecedented situation that is severely impacting on our usual way of life. Cruise lines are taking a proactive approach to ensure the safety of those of us who love to travel at sea, and I expect there will be more developments over the coming weeks and months. I’ll keep you as best advised as I can on this channel. Image References: Ref [1]: Creative Commons / 2.0 Share Alike / “silver-novice” / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarlet_Lady_in_Liverpool_February_2020_(cropped).jpg Ref [2]: Henderson & Cremer used with permission Ref [3]: Henderson & Cremer used with permission Music: YouTube Audio Library #cruisenews #princesscruises #cruiselinenews