P&O Cruises has again extended its pause in operations and cancelled cruises into January 2021.
In response to the UK Government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) guidance, the cruise lines has extended its pause in operations until November 12, 2020. It has also cancelled two long itineraries due to depart in January 2021 due to complexities of planning these
long-haul itineraries.
In the company’s latest video P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said:
“It is clear that whilst the guidance is in place it is not advisable for us to resume operations.
“As well as cancelling all cruises up until November 12, 2020 we will, sadly, also be
cancelling Aurora’s Caribbean & South America Adventure and Arcadia’s World
Cruise. Given long-term planning, combined with the complexity and length of these
long-haul itineraries and evolving border restrictions, we need to ensure that we
adhere to the guidance as it stands. I know that these January cruises, in particular,
are holidays of a lifetime and we are so sorry for the disappointment that these
cancellations will cause.
“We continue to work in partnership with public health agencies at the highest level
as well as Department for Transport; EU Healthy Gateways and Cruise Lines
International Association (CLIA), the world’s largest cruise industry association. We
will follow all applicable guidelines to enhance our already stringent measures to
keep our guests and crew healthy and well and we will not resume sailing until this
approved framework is in place. Fundamentally, we will be adopting best practice
within the travel industry.
“The good news is that confidence in cruising is strong and we are seeing increasing
and significant demand from our guests. We know that the FCO guidance is under
constant review and we are hopeful that, as they are aware of the work the industry
is doing, this will change before too long.”
Guests booked on the cancelled cruises will automatically receive an enhanced
125% Future Cruise Credit or alternatively can fill in the website form for a 100%
refund.
Ludlow continued: “We have invested significantly in new systems and technology to
speed up the refund process and to date we have refunded tens of thousands of
guests, although it is heartening to see that the majority of our guests have opted for
the FCC so they have a holiday to look forward to in the future.”
He also confirmed that the company will take delivery of much anticipated new ship
Iona “before the autumn.”
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