Princess and Viking cancel cruises
Princess Cruises has suspended all cruises worldwide for 60 days.
It joins Viking Cruises which has already suspended all river and ocean cruises until April 30.
Sailings on all 18 Princess cruise ships will stop for two months from March 12 to May 10.
President Jan Swartz said: "Princess Cruises is a global holiday company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents.
"By taking this bold action of voluntarily pausing the operations of our ships, it is our intention to reassure our loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of our commitment to the health, safety and well-being of all who sail with us, as well as those who do business with us, and the countries and communities we visit around the world."
Those currently onboard a cruise that will end in the next five days will continue to sail as expected through to the end of the itinerary so that onward travel arrangements are not disrupted.
Current voyages that are under way and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location for guests, factoring in operational requirements.
Princess will do everything possible to return each guest home with the greatest amount of care possible. During this time, our operations and medical teams across the fleet will remain vigilant in their care and service for guests and crew onboard.
Princess is offering affected guests the chance to transfer 100% of the money paid for their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice.
To add a bonus incentive for guests to accept this offer, the company will add an additional future cruise credit benefit which can be applied to the cruise fare or onboard expenses.
In addition, Princess will honour this offer for those guests who had made final payment and cancelled their booking on or after February 4, 2020. The future cruise credit can be used on any voyage departing through to May 1, 2022.
If the future cruise credit option does not work for some guests, they will be able to complete an electronic form on Princess.com to request a cash refund.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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