Princess Cruises have announced they will temporarily pause all ship operations for 60 days.
The company will voluntarily pause global operations of its 18 cruise ships for two months (60 days), impacting voyages departing 12 March to 10 May.
“Princess Cruises is a global vacation company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “By taking this bold action of voluntarily pausing the operations of our ships, it is our intention to reassure our loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of our commitment to the health, safety and well-being of all who sail with us, as well as those who do business with us, and the countries and communities we visit around the world,” added Swartz.
Princess will do everything possible to return each guest home with the greatest amount of care possible, the company said.
For those who are impacted by this business decision, Princess is offering guests the opportunity to transfer 100 per cent of the money paid for their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice. To add a bonus incentive for guests to accept this offer, the company will add an additional generous future cruise credit benefit which can be applied to the cruise fare or onboard expenses. In addition, Princess will honour this offer for those guests who had made final payment and cancelled their booking on or after 4 February, 2020. The future cruise credit can be used on any voyage departing through 1 May, 2022.
Princess will protect travel advisor commissions on bookings for cancelled cruises that were paid in full and for the total amount of the future cruise credits, in recognition of the critical role they play in the cruise line’s business and success.
If the future cruise credit option does not work for some guests, they will be able to complete an electronic form at www.Princess.com to request a cash refund. Princess asks guests not to call the Reservation Call Center due to the possibility of high call volumes and the potential of long on-hold wait times due to this unprecedented action. Guests and their travel advisors will be sent communications on how to manage cancellations and desired compensation. Information and instructions for requesting a refund are available online at Princess.com
Princess Cruises plans to be back in operation beginning with cruises departing 11 May, 2020.
