Cruise News for March – May, 2020 – Dine, Travel & Entertainment

Last week when I looked at the site, I discovered some cruise lines were offering cruises for $25 per day per person. Today it has all changed. Due to the unpredictable environment surrounding the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, most of the major cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC will temporarily suspend sailing operations to and from U.S. ports for 30 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cruise Lines International Association announced today.

Shutdowns are part of the cruise industry’s efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and to keep passengers, crew and communities safe and healthy. If you are scheduled to cruise soon, contact your travel or cruise specialist or go directly to the cruise lines reservation site.

Here’s the latest (as of March 13, 2020) on each cruise line. Click on the name of the cruise line to learn more:

AIDA

German cruise line AIDA has suspended all operations through early April. Cruisers on canceled voyages are asked to rebook for another cruise through spring 2022; bookings made by May 31, 2020 will receive an onboard credit.

AmaWaterways

AmaWaterways has suspended all operations and is cancelling all Europe river cruises through April 25, 2020.

Avalon Waterways

Avalon Waterways on their website states: “Due to ongoing changes regarding COVID-19, please note that call volume to our reservation staff is extremely high, resulting in above-average hold times. We are prioritizing calls related to departures between now and April 30. If you are calling about a departure May 1 and beyond, you will be asked to call back the week of March 16th. We appreciate your cooperation during this time and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.”

Azamara

Azamara allows passengers to cancel up to 48 hours before a cruise and receives cruise credit through 2021.

Effective Friday, March 13, 2020, guests of all ages will be screened prior to boarding, regarding underlying issues that may prevent them from sailing including chronic heart, lung, liver, or kidney disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, or cancer.
Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, if you are over the age of 70 at the time of embarkation, you must present a doctor’s letter certifying you’re fit to travel and do not have severe, chronic medical conditions. As a reminder, Azamara is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Please share the letter on their site to your physician, which can also be found on their Travel Advisory.

Carnival Cruise Line

The company is monitoring COVID-19 developments from their state-of-the-art Fleet Operations Center in Miami, so that they can quickly respond to any situation and communicate promptly. Guests remain tremendously supportive and understanding. In turn, our entire crew is committed to providing you a great vacation.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity is cancelling all sailings scheduled to depart from U.S. ports for the next 30 days.

Celestyal Cruises

All cruise operations are suspended until May 1. Passengers who paid in full for the canceled sailings will be offered a future cruise credit valued at 120 percent of the original booking value, or a refund of original amount paid.

Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises has announced due to the new measures introduced by the Italian Government on March 9, 2020 to contain the health emergency in the national territory, Costa Cruises has revised the routes of its vessels which will call at Italian ports until April 3, 2020. The cruises currently sailing will only call at Italian ports to allow customers to disembark and return home, no excursions or embarkations will take place. They have also canceled bookings for Italian guests following the provisions of the Decree of the Italian Prime Minister. The company has taken steps to inform interested customers by offering them a future cruise credit so that they can later enjoy their vacation onboard on a different date.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages

Cruise & Maritime Voyages has confirmed the temporary suspension of all worldwide cruise operations for embarkations taking place from today (Friday 13 March 2020) for six weeks until Friday 24 April 2020.

Crystal Cruises

Crystal has cancelled sailings on Crystal Serenity until April 21 and Crystal Symphony until May 8.

Disney Cruises

Port Canaveral will temporarily lose one of its major cruise lines. Disney’s two largest ships, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, are based there. Both can carry 4,000 passengers. The Walt Disney Company has suspended all ships starting on Saturday, March 14 through the end of the month. It will affect eight scheduled Disney Cruise Line sailings out of Port Canaveral.

Fred. Olsen

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has taken the difficult decision to pause their ocean cruise operations until May 23, 2020. For the time being, their river ship Brabant is not affected by the pause in operations, and will commence as planned on April 6, 2020.

Gate 1 Travel

All Gate 1 trips have been suspended for departures Mar 12 through Apr 30, 2020. Cruise payments, and travel insurance if selected, will be available as a future travel credit. Passengers can apply these funds towards new travel services booked within 18 months.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises has cancelled all Caribbean cruises from Miami from March 14 – April 30. They are offering guests the following two options: 125% future cruise credit or request a refund. The future cruise credit can be used on any sailing departing on or before December 31, 2021.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line is cancelling all voyages with embarkation dates from March 13 to April 11, 2020. They will plan to recommence and operate with embarkations beginning April 12, 2020.

Oceania Cruises

Beginning March 13, all travel from Europe to the United States will be restricted for 30 days. Updates will be posted on their webpage as they become available.

Paul Gauguin Cruises

The French State and French Polynesian authorities have decided to suspend all cruise calls in French Polynesia until April 11, 2020. Paul Gauguin Cruises will be communicating throughout the day with travel advisors and guests booked on affected sailings and will be sending out notices and updating our travel advisory as our plans are introduced.

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises has suspended fleet operations until May 10.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

For all existing and new reservations made by April 30, 2020 on Regent Seven Seas Cruise voyages embarking on or before September 30, 2020, guests who have paid in full have the option to cancel up to 48 hours prior to departure date and receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean “understands the gravity of the public health crisis confronting the country. And this is our part to play. So, beginning at midnight tonight, we are pausing the fleet’s US sailings for 30 days.”

Saga Cruises

Given the government advice, Saga Cruises is temporarily suspend our Ocean Cruises onboard Saga Sapphire and Spirit of Discovery from March 15, 2020 to 1 May 1, 2020. “If you have booked a Saga Ocean Cruise during this period, we are offering you an additional future cruise credit to the value of 25%. This means if you choose to amend your booking to a future date, the full amount you have paid for your cruise, plus an extra 25% will be transferred to that booking; or we can send you a voucher for this amount to be redeemed against any future Saga Ocean Cruise. This future cruise credit will last for a period of 24 months.”

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Cruise News for March – May, 2020