As August ends, more cruise lines are cancelling cruises beyond just the summer season, with the most recent cruise lines to do so being P&O, Viking, and Holland America. These major companies may not be quite ready to sail again, yet others are prepping new health protocols and are preparing to start cruising again as soon as possible. In the end, the decision comes down to both health and business reasons, and these three cruise lines have evidently decided that they would like to wait longer to begin operations again.
P&O
P&O is one the biggest cruise lines in Britain, meaning they do not need to abide by the CDC No Sail Order and can instead go by local European ordinances if they wish to sail. Despite this, they still have to answer to local British health guidelines, and most are saying that it is not quite safe to cruise just yet. Because of this, they have cancelled all sailings up until November 12, 2020. A few in January 2021 are cancelled as well: the Aurora’s Caribbean and South America itinerary and the world cruise that was set to be on the Arcadia. Guests will get an automatic 125% credit, which is nice. They can also opt for a 100% cash refund on the P&O site.
Holland America
Holland America is a cruise line that travels to many locations across the globe, and the combination of all the different travel restrictions and health orders in the areas that they sail to has made them extend their suspension of operations. They are now cancelling all sailings up until December 15, 2020. Guests will get a 125% refund in the form of credit that can be used on future Holland America sailings, or they can fill out a Cancellations Preferences form on their site for a 100% cash refund.
Viking
Viking has been especially cautious throughout this pandemic. They were one of the first cruise lines in the world to cancel sailings due to coronavirus, and it seems they will not be reversing their stance on guest safety any time soon. In fact, the cruise line has just announced that they will be cancelling the rest of their sailings for the entire year. This means that there won’t be a Viking cruise until at least January 2021. Like with most other cruise lines, guests will receive a 125% credit refund.
Luckily, it seems that the cruise lines making this decision have enough money to wait out the pandemic, at least for a bit longer. Viking said in a statement, “We are a private, closely-held company, which means we do not have to rush the decision to return to service.” At least that’s some good news!
