Princess Cruises Cancels All Cruises Until April

On the heels of Carnival Cruise Line cancelling all cruises until February 2021, their sister line Princess Cruises has decided to push back their restart as well. In a press release this morning, the cruise line announced they won’t be returning to service until April 2021. They’ve also cancelled all cruises longer than seven days in and out of United States ports through November 1, 2021 and  extended its pause in operations for cruises departing in and out of Japan through June 25, 2021.

Uh-oh.

This decision means that Princess Cruises will go a full YEAR without a single paying customer on board their ships. The cruise line cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Framework for Conditional Sailing Order” as the primary reason for pushing back their restart. 

“We are focused on preparing our ships to meet the CDC health and safety requirements for our eventual return to service,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “We also appreciate the continued support we have received from our guests, partners and travel advisors, reinforcing for all of us why we do what we do.”

For Those Booked on Cancelled Cruises

If you were booked on a cruise that was just cancelled, you will have the option to receive a refundable future cruise credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus future cruise credit equal to 25% of the cruise fare. You can also ask for a full refund. 

It’s interesting to note that Princess Cruises pushed their restart back much further than Carnival Cruise Line, which can be interpreted a number of different ways. Perhaps they’re going to have a more difficult time complying with the CDC’s conditional sail order. Or maybe the plight of Diamond Princess and other Princess Cruises ships at the start of the pandemic is still affecting decision making. There’s even a chance that come March 2021, a vaccine is readily available and widely distributed, reducing the need for retrofitting ships for COVID-19 testing, social distancing and more. 

Why do you think Princess Cruises pushed their restart back so far and which Carnival Corporation brand will be next to push back the restart? Let us know in the comments!