P&O Cruises faces year without passengers as return to sea delayed again
Britain’s biggest cruise operator has cancelled all voyages until April 2021, which will see it go more than a year without sailing any passengers.
P&O Cruises, which is also the world’s oldest cruise line, has blamed uncertainty around European ports of call for the decision. Passengers haven’t sailed on its ships since March, when the spread of coronavirus led to the global cruise industry pausing operations.
Although a number of lines have started sailing again, the majority of ships remain empty.
Paul Ludlow, president of the Southampton-based operator, said: “With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.
“In addition, as the final payments are due for these cruises very soon we felt it was the right thing to do for our guests. We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel but really hope they will re-book for later in the year or for our new programme of 2022 holidays which went on sale earlier this month with strong demand, showing great confidence in cruising in the future.”
New ship Iona, the largest ship ever built by the line and which was delivered to P&O Cruises at the end of October, is likely to be affected, with her maiden voyage set for March 2021. Sailing on Aurora, Arcadia, Azura and Britannia are also hit by the cancellations.
The company said they will be reaching out to customers who have booked on cancelled cruises, who will be entitled to a full refund or future cruise credit worth 125 per cent of the cost of their booking.
This announcement from P&O Cruises comes after a string of other cruise companies unveiled similar delays to their plans.
On Friday, both Holland America Line and Princess Cruises extended their suspension until the end of March 2021. Other lines that won’t be sailing until April include Saga, Cunard, Crystal and Azamara.
Yesterday saw Disney Cruise Line confirm they wouldn’t return until at least February 1 next year, and today Marella Cruises cancelled the rest of their 2020 itineraries.
