The coronavirus pandemic has forced Princess Cruises to cancel its luxury voyage on two cruise vessels early next year, citing ongoing doubts in global travel and government-ordered port restrictions linked to the health crisis.
Carnival Corp, the cruise line operator, announced in a statement the cancellations for the company's Pacific Princess 2021 Circle South America cruise and Island Princess 2021 World Cruise. The voyages were set to embark from Australian and U.S. ports.
Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president, stated that they feel the distress such cancellations have caused for their customers and investors. The two cruises, Swartz said, are the "pinnacle cruise vacation experience," booked by some of the company's most loyal patrons.
Passengers scheduled for the voyage will get a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100 percent of the ticket they booked and an extra credit equivalent to a quarter of the travel fare paid, the company said. Passengers can forfeit their bonus and request a refund before the end of the month for money paid on tickets should they opt to cancel their cruise.
Carnival said it has also canceled cruises of its Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 next year and 2022, respectively. The voyages are being replaced with another voyage this month, the group disclosed.
Meanwhile, Carnival-owned cruise line operator Cunard announced Wednesday that it has canceled all its scheduled voyages until March next year, all because of the pandemic-triggered port and border restrictions carried out by health authorities.
Carnival had to deal with around 800 cases of the virus earlier this year. A report by the Washington Post revealed that some of the ships under the Princess Cruises umbrella were the culprits behind the fast spread of the disease around the globe.
Shares of Carnival were down 3.8 percent and closed at 15.28 on the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday. The stock has so far dropped nearly 70 percent of its value this year, in the wake of coronavirus outbreaks on some of the company's cruise ships.
