Holland America Line has decided to stop selling longer cruises while it reviews the new CDC framework and seeks additional clarification. The sailings have already been removed from the cruise line’s booking engine until further details are known.
So the Carnival-owned cruise line has announced that cruises of eight days or longer will no longer be available to book. Currently, the official Holland America website is only showing sailings up to 7-days, but the longer itineraries could make a return.
The cruise line has stated that it has reviewed the new 40-page framework on the Conditional Sailing Order released on October 30, 2020. As a result, Holland America has requested further clarification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the details of limited length cruises.
The removal on longer cruises will remain in place on cruises that only depart from the U.S. from January 1, 2021, through November 1, 2021. It is also important to know that November 1 2021 is when the current Conditional Sailing Order is set to end as Cruise Hive reported right here.
Here’s the full statement released by Holland America Line:
Seattle, Wash., Nov. 10, 2020 — Holland America Line has reviewed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Framework for Conditional Sailing and is seeking additional clarification to fully understand the requirements. While we await further information, we have (temporarily) stopped selling all cruises eight days and longer which call upon a U.S. port and depart January 1 through November 1, 2021. For those who are currently booked on one of these cruises, we ask for your patience to receive further information from Holland America Line on whether your cruise is impacted.
This news follows sister brand Carnival Cruise Line which has also removed longer cruises from its booking engine. The cruise line confirmed with Cruise Hive yesterday that eight-day and longer cruises had been removed during ongoing discussions with the CDC.
Related: Carnival Removes 8-Day or Longer Cruises Until Late 2021
It’s likely other cruise lines with U.S. departures will be doing the same while the final plans on resuming cruises safely are worked through with the CDC. Holland America Line has currently suspended operations through December 31, 2020 while it prepares on resuming cruises for 2021.
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