Princess Cruises informs guests and travel agents that two vessels will not be returning to service as scheduled. The restarts for Crown Princess and Island Princess in the U.S. will be delayed, with a total of 19 sailings cancelled.
Two Princess Cruise Ships Delayed
The Carnival-owned cruise line’s return to service had been going smoothly with multiple ships already back in service. However, the much-anticipated restarts for Island Princess from Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Crown Princess from Los Angeles in California are delayed.
Princess Cruises did not go into the specific reason for the delayed restart for the two ships. The only reason was to enable a further staggered return to service. This could be related to getting enough vaccinated crew to the ships and more time to prepare.
Princess Cruises said in the update, “After careful consideration, we have found it necessary to delay the restart of Island Princess and Crown Princess to Spring 2022 to enable further staggering of our broader return to service plans. Island Princess will now return to service on April 27 with her published 14-day Panama Canal cruise and Crown Princess will restart on her published May 7 seven-day cruise to Alaska. As a result of these changes, the following cruises have been cancelled.”
Island Princess cruises are now cancelled through April 17, 2022. The ship will finally restart operations on April 27, 2022, from Fort Lauderdale on a 14-day Panama Canal voyage. Crown Princess cruises are now cancelled through April 29, 2022. The ship will return from Los Angeles on May 7, 2022, on a seven-day voyage to Alaska.
Also Read: Princess Cruises Cancels Cruises in Australia into Spring 2022
The 2,200 passenger Island Princess was previously scheduled to restart sailings on March 6. The 3,080 passenger Crown Princess was previously scheduled to resume cruises on February 13.
Impacted Princess Guests
Princess Cruises is offering guests that were booked on the impacted sailings with three options. The first option allows guests to move to an equivalent cruise with the added benefit of a protected cruise fare and perks that were applied to the original booking.
The second option is a 100% future cruise credit that can be used on a voyage at a later date. The credit will have to be used on a voyage booked by nad sailing by December 31, 2022. The final option is a full refund that can be requested using an online form by December 31, 2021.
Princess Cruises U.S. Return to Service
Just like other cruise lines in the U.S., Princess Cruises has already returned to service with multiple ships. There are seven princess cruise ships now sailing, with the new Enchanted Princess becoming the latest on November 10, 2021, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
There are also vessels operating on the West Coast with Majestic Princess and Emerald Princess from the Port of Los Angeles and Ruby Princess from San Francisco.
