Princess Cruises has needed to cancel more sailings from the UK due to the government’s roadmap to ease the lockdown. The Carnival-owned cruise line will also offer new shorter cruises in the Summer just for UK residents.
Princess UK Cancellations
Princess Cruises has released a major update on its operations out of the UK following the government’s plan to ease the national lockdown. The cruise line, which Carnival Corp owns, has announced further cancellations that impact three vessels.
So this does mean that the cruise line has extended its pause on regular European sailings to and from the UK, including roundtrip from Southampton through September 25, 2021, on Sky Princess, Regal Princess, and Island Princess.
Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said:
“We share in our guests’ disappointment over these cancelled voyages, and we appreciate the continued understanding and cooperation from our loyal guests and travel advisors.”
“As we prepare our ships for a return to service, we remain in close contact with the UK Government to monitor the latest travel guidance for international guests.”
The further cancellations impact a total of 14 sailings for Regal Princess, 11 for Sky Princess, and 10 for Island Princess. Here is the list of all those specific cruises:
Impacted Guests
Princess Cruises will be offering cancellation options to impacted guests. The cruise line will offer to move guests to an equivalent voyage in 2022 with the fair protected. There is the option to choose a future cruise credit instead, which is 100% of the cruise fare, along with an additional 10%.
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The future cruise credit will also be offered for those guests that do not have an equivalent voyage in 2022.
And finally, there is always the option to request a full refund if guests no longer want to cruise with Princess in the future. The refund must be requested using an online form by April 15, 2021. If not done by that date, then the future cruise credit will automatically be applied.
It’s also important to know that any future cruise credit can be used to book a cruise that departs by December 31, 2022.
New Shorter Offerings
Princess Cruises did not go into detail on the new cruise offerings. All we know at the moment is the cruise line will launch a series of new short cruises departing in late Summer on Regal Princess and Sky Princess out of Southampton. More details on this will be released later in March 2021.
It follows an earlier announcement by sister line P&O Cruises that has also announced new cruises. They will be a range of sailings around the British Islas for UK residents only.
Also Read: Princess Cruises Cancels More Sailings Including Alaska
New Hope for UK Cruises
The reason for the cancellations is due to the roadmap on easing the lockdown in the country. The UK’s Global Travel Taskforce chaired by The Secretary of State Grant Shapps met for the first time on March 2 to discuss a plan on reopening travel.
UK The Secretary of State Grant Shapps commented:
“The UK’s leading vaccine rollout has created a wave of optimism and, as a result, the Global Travel Taskforce is charged with exploring safe and secure ways to restart international travel when the time is right.”
The cruise line now has a better view of what’s to come this year and how international travel restrictions could be impacted.
Even though it all does remain fluid, the vaccine rollout in the country is having a positive impact and by Summer, Princess Cruises is hoping to at least start some sailings but they will be limited.
