P&O Cruises Australia has prolonged its halt in operations for cruises departing from Sydney and Brisbane for another month, until mid-January next year, which is bad news for cruise enthusiasts in Australia.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the restart of cruising, the company said the decision was made to provide guests more assurance in arranging their Christmas and New Year vacations.
Cruises scheduled to depart from Brisbane from December 18 to January 14 and from Sydney from January 18 will be cancelled.
P&O Cruises Australia also declared that its Melbourne summer season would be cancelled due to the latest extension, which made it impossible to fulfill.
P&O Cruises Australia president, Sture Myrmell, said, “We recognise this is disappointing for our guests who were looking forward to cruising with friends and family over Christmas and New Year, however, we wanted to make this announcement as early as possible to ensure they could plan with certainty for the holiday period.”
P&O Cruises Australia stated recently that it will restart domestic operations with cruises for fully vaccinated passengers and crew.
“Governments have made it very clear that vaccination thresholds are the key to ending lockdowns, border restrictions and, ultimately, re-opening Australia.
“And part of returning to normal society is ensuring that the more than one million Australians who choose a cruise holiday each year have the opportunity to do so again,” Myrmell said.
“Unfortunately, we are not yet clear on the requirements from governments and public health authorities for a phased return of domestic cruising, but we remain hopeful these conversations will gather pace now there is real momentum around society re-opening.”
Princess Cruises is also extending its cruise holiday pause in Australia/New Zealand until January 27th, due to the uncertainty surrounding the region’s resumption to cruising.
Coral Princess voyages will be cancelled through January 17th, while Royal Princess and Sapphire Princess seasons will be cancelled through March as a result of the halt extension.
Deanna Austin, Princess Cruises chief commercial officer said, “It became apparent we would not be able to deliver planned deployment of Royal Princess and Sapphire Princess in Australia before they were due to start their published northern hemisphere voyages”
She added, “We recognise that guests planning cruises over the popular summer and new year holiday period will be particularly disappointed with the changes, however, we wanted to give guests as much notice as possible so they could plan their holidays with certainty.”
– India’s new-age travel digital media
