Carnival Corporation postpones more cruises, with some restarting this month

A range of Carnival Corporation cruise lines have announced a further pause in cruising operations, with one hoping to restarts as soon as the end of January.

Locally, P&O Cruises Australia has extended its pause in New Zealand for departures on and before 25 April 2021 as the line continues to work with local governments and public health authorities.

P&O Cruises Australia president Sture Myrmell said the start of a new year brought renewed optimism and confidence but, at the same time, it was important to remain realistic about the more immediate future.

“We know that much better days lie ahead and we remain positive about the resumption of cruising,” he said.

“While we’ve paused operations, P&O Cruises, together with the wider industry, has been using the time wisely to plan for cruising’s return.”

Initially scheduled to start sailing from Auckland from 6 February 2021, Pacific Explorer’s operations were previously paused to 4 March 2021 and are now paused to 25 April.

In Australia, Pacific Adventure is currently scheduled to begin sailing from Sydney on 30 April 2021, while Pacific Encounter is due to call Brisbane home from 7 May. However, additional voyages may be added earlier, depending on the timing of the return of cruising in Australia.

Similarly, Holland America Line (HAL) and Princess Cruises have also extended their pauses until 30 April and 14 May respectively to give the lines more time to meet the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order issued by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

HAL will also cancel all Alaska cruises through mid-May, Alaska departures on three ships through early June, any Land+Sea Journeys connected with cancelled Alaska sailings, Mediterranean cruises through early June and Zaandam‘s Canada/New England itineraries through August.

Carnival’s German brand AIDA has also been affected, with the continued lockdown in Germany pushing the line’s cruise pause until at least the end of February 2021.

Meanwhile, Costa Cruises expects to restart its cruise program in Italy from 31 January after cancelling the departure of Costa Crociere, which was set to sail from 7 to 31 January.

Costa Deliziosa will be the line’s first ship to depart, offering guests the opportunity to visit the most beautiful Italian locations with the same itinerary originally planned for Costa Smeralda, with mini-cruises of three and four days, in addition to the seven-day program.