Princess Cruises pauses operations for 60 days

Princess Cruises has announced that it is to pause all cruises for 60 days as a result of the Coronavirus.

The ban covers departures between March 12 to May 10 across the company’s 18 ship fleet.

Cruises that will end in the next five days will continue to the end of the itinerary. Current voyages that are under way and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location.

Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said: “Princess Cruises is a global holiday company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents. By taking this bold action of voluntarily pausing the operations of our ships, it is our intention to reassure our loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of our commitment to the health, safety and well-being of all who sail with us, as well as those who do business with us, and the countries and communities we visit around the world.”

Princess is offering guests the opportunity to transfer 100 per cent of the money paid for their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice. 

The company will add an additional future cruise credit which can be applied to the cruise fare or onboard expenses. In addition, Princess will honour this offer for those guests who had made final payment and cancelled their booking on or after February 4, 2020. The future cruise credit can be used on any voyage departing through to May 1, 2022.

If the future cruise credit option does not work for some guests, they will be able to complete an electronic form on Princess.com to request a cash refund.

Princess Cruises plans to be back in operation beginning with cruises departing May 11, 2020.