The Royal Caribbean Group is extending the suspension of sailings. For Royal Caribbean International this includes cancelling the departures on or before Nov. 30, 2020, excluding sailings from Hong Kong. Celebrity Cruises is suspending their full 2020/21 winter program in Australia and Asia. Additionally, Azamara is suspending their 2020/21 winter sailings throughout Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and South America.
Royal Caribbean International
After further consulting with their partners at Cruise Lines International Association and in conjunction with the CDC, Royal Caribbean International has decided to extend the suspension of sailings for their global fleet for all sailings through November 30th, 2020. The cruiseline’s goal is to resume operations on December 1st, 2020.
However, the suspension for the following ships and sailings have been extended beyond December 1st:
• Australia sailings through December 31st, 2020.
• Odyssey of the Seas sailings from November 5th, 2020 through April 17th, 2021. Given the closure of shipyards along with the disruption to the supply chain caused by the pandemic, additional time will be needed to complete Odyssey of the Seas.
• Liberty of the Seas’ amplification has been postponed to a later date, and the ship will now sail to Galveston earlier than planned. Regrettably, only one ship can dock at the Galveston pier at a time, so the cruiseline has had to cancel the February 14, 2021 Jewel of the Seas cruise.
• Quantum of the Seas sailings departing December 2nd, 2020 – March 22nd, 2021.
For more information visit royalcaribbean.com.
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises is suspending their full 2020/21 Winter program in Australia and Asia.
The cruiseline is extending its “Cruise with Confidence” program. For all bookings created by November 30, 2020, guests have the flexibility to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours prior to sailing and receive a full credit of the cruise fare paid for a future cruise through May 4, 2022. The cruise company will also continue to offer their “Best Price Guarantee” and “Lift and Shift.”
- “Best Price Guarantee”: Guests can choose to change the price and promotional offer on their reservation up to 48 hours before their cruise.
- “Lift and Shift”: This option is ideal for those guests wishing to move their vacation plans to next year. Eligible between now and November 30, 2020, guests can protect their original cruise fare and promotional offering by shifting to a future sailing on the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within the same 4-week period of their original cruise date same-time-next-year.
For more information vivit celebritycruises.com.
Azamara
Azamara has taken the decision to extend the suspension of global operations further, and re-start cruising with the 2021 Europe season. Azamara will be back in operation as per below:
- Azamara Quest: March 20, 2021. Azamara Quest will start the Europe season with her originally scheduled 12-night Spain Intensive voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
- Azamara Journey: April 9, 2021. Azamara Journey will start the Europe season with her originally scheduled 8-night Iberia Intensive voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Barcelona, Spain.
- Azamara Pursuit: May 9, 2021. Azamara Pursuit will start the Europe season with a series of new Greece Intensive voyages sailing roundtrip from Athens (Piraeus), Greece.
Guests whose voyage has been cancelled have three compensation options:
- 125% Future Cruise Credit to book a new cruise by December 31, 2021 for sailings departing on or before April 30, 2023.
- Lift and Shift: keep the cruise vacation plans to the same destination and move the existing booking to a 2021 or January to March 2022 sailing within four weeks of the originally scheduled sailing.
- 100% Refund: request a refund and deactivate the Future Cruise Credit certificate before the end of 2020.
For more information visit azamara.com.
Silversea
Silversea is proceeding with a ‘rolling’ cancellation system. This means the cruiseline is cancelling cruises only when they know that they are unable to operate them. This way the company is avoiding having to cancel cruises that have the possibility of operating.
The most current (October 7, 2020) list of ships returning is as follows:
- Silver Cloud: will set sail on March 19, 2021
- Silver Wind: will welcome guests once more from June 14, 2021
- Silver Shadow: will commence service once again from December 4, 2020
- Silver Spirit: will set sail on December 1, 2020
- Silver Muse: will resule sailing from December 20, 2020
- Silver Whisper: will commence service once again from December 9, 2020
- Silver Explorer: will cruise again from February 9, 2021
- Silver Moon: will set sail on December 8, 2020
- Silver Dawn: will commence service from November 9, 2021
- Silver Origin: will resume sailing from December 5, 2020
For more information visit silversea.com.