Carnival Corporation’s North American cruise line operators are extending their suspension of cruise voyages until the mid of May amid prolonged uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The four brands include Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard North America, Holland America Line, and Seabourn.
Carnival Cruise Line will prolong the pause of North American operations until May 11, Seabourn and Holland America Line will extend the voluntarily pause through May 14, while Cunard will prolong the suspension up to and including May 15, 2020.
“As the world addresses global health concerns, travel has come to a temporary standstill as communities take necessary precautions to protect themselves,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.
All bookings will automatically be cancelled through May 14.
Holland America Line, Cunard, and Seabourn said that guests can choose between 125% Future Cruise Credit with the bonus $250 shipboard credit or 100% refund for cancelled voyages.
Carnival has set up an automated customer service process and urged guests to use the online forms, as its ability to handle calls is limited amid the closure of offices in Greater Miami as indicated by local authorities.
“This decision also has implications for the thousands of our crew members who remain on our ships, and just like they have always taken care of our guests, we are working diligently to continue to take care of them and get them home where possible.
“We remain committed to our return to service and will use this time to continue to build additional processes, protocols, and resources to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the destinations we serve,” Carnival Cruise Line added.
Commenting on the situation, Simon Palethorpe, President of Cunard said it was too soon to know exactly how this situation will evolve.
“The Cunard team will commit all our resources, energy and talent to weather this storm and come out stronger than ever for our guests,” he said.