All Cruises Have Been Cancelled Until The Fall. Here’s What We Know
If you were planning on booking a cruise anytime soon, I have some bad news…
All Cruises Have Been Cancelled Until The Fall. Here’s What We Know…
It was just announced that all U.S. based cruise ships and ports have come to a pause when it comes to cruising.
The main trade group for the cruise industry, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), announced today that all its members operating oceangoing ships would extend their suspension of cruises in U.S. waters until Sept. 15 – yes, this Fall.
Unfortunatly, this means that if you did happen to book a cruise for anytime between now and that September 15th date, you will be receiving a cancellation notice here shortly.
These include cruise lines such as such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Carnival Cruise Line.
Before today, these cruise lines had cancelled cruises up until the end of July offering customers refunds or credits for a future cruise. But now, looks like they will have to extend those cancellations even further.
While we don’t know what they will be offering this time around in terms of cancellations, we do know it is happening.
If you are wondering why the cancellation happened, it seems pretty obvious – the U.S. is nowhere near done with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Although we had hoped that cruise activity could resume as soon as possible after that date, it is increasingly clear that more time will be needed to resolve barriers to resumption (of cruising) in the United States,”
CLIA
The extended shutdown does not apply to small ships designed to carry fewer than 250 passengers and crew so if you’re really itching to sail, it might be worthwhile checking into one of those cruises.
So, while we are all itching to get out of our homes, looks like cruises will have to wait a while longer to resume.
In the meantime, if you did book a cruise, you can contact the cruise line to discuss your options for cancellations and/or refunds.
Stay safe out there!