As if the news about the CDC extending its No Sail Order once wasn’t enough, Princess Cruises has announced that it will be extending its own suspension of operations. While all sizable cruise lines in the United States will be unable to sail until at least October as per the CDC order, many are deciding to set their own pace via cancellations of their itineraries. Princess is one of them, and their newest announcement will not be a happy one for fans looking to take a Princess vacation soon.
The date
Like many other cruise lines out there, Princess had previously cancelled all of its sailings throughout the rest of this summer in light of the continued progression and spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Now it seems they will hardly be sailing this year at all. Their current plan is to have a global operations suspension until December 15, 2020. This means that any itinerary that was planned to occur between now and then is cancelled.
Itineraries being affected
The list of cruises being cancelled by this is pretty rough, so we’ll try to make it as brief as possible. As per Cruise Trade News, “all sailings in Asia, Caribbean, California Coast, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama Canal, South America and Antarctica, Japan, and Tahiti/South Pacific” through December 15th are cancelled.
Australian sailings
This new extension will also affect a number of Australian itineraries. However, it isn’t quite as bleak. Australian sailings are only cancelled through to October 31st. Of course, this is subject to change if Australia decides to continue having strict border laws, so we will have to wait and see if they end up cancelling the rest of their Australian itineraries this year.
Princess’ refund policy
If you had a cruise booked in that time period that is now cancelled, probably the first thing you’re thinking of is a refund. You have until August 31st, 2020 to get all of your cash back on your cancelled cruise. If you wait longer than that, Princess will automatically make it so that you are refunded in future cruise credit equal to 125% of the cost of your booking. Of course, you always have the option to get credit if you ask for your refund before August 31st; that’s just the final date that you can get cash back.
In response to these cancellations, Princess’ president said, “We share in our guests’ disappointment in cancelling these cruises. We look forward to the days when we can return to travel and the happiness it brings to all who cruise.” We couldn’t agree more!
