The last several months have not been kind to many industries, but one, in particular, is the cruise industry. Since March 2020, the cruise industry has been full of cancellations, ship retirements, homeport switch-ups, and new ship delays. It is hard to keep up so let us simplify this as much as possible to make it easier to navigate as we look to the possible resumption of cruising in the North American Market. Keeping it simple, we will explore the three major cruise companies Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Carnival Corporation: (CCL)
The largest Cruise company just so happens to be the largest Leisure Travel Company in the world. Carnival Corporation's cruise industry focal point is comprised of nine cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, Aida, Costa, P&O, and P&O Australia.
All sailings are cancelled through 2020 with the exception of DECEMBER sailings out of Port Miami and Port Canaveral.
Sailings onboard Carnival Splendor Jan. 16 – Feb. 8, 2021, have been cancelled.
Carnival has said goodbye to the following ships, as a result canceling all future sailings onboard:
Carnival Fascination:
Laid-up and awaiting scrap
Carnival Inspiration:
Beached and undergoing scrap
Carnival Fantasy:
Beached and undergoing scrap
Carnival Imagination:
Beached and awaiting scrap
Carnival Mardi Gras:
Carnival Cruise Line's largest and most innovative ship to date, Mardi Gras, has been delayed due to shipyard shutdowns. Mardi Gras is scheduled to set sail in early February 2021.
Princess has cancelled all sailings globally up to and including December 15, 2020.
All sailings onboard Sun and Sea Princess are cancelled as both ships will depart the Princess Fleet.
All Princess World Cruises in early 2021 are cancelled including:
Island Princess 2021 World Cruise sailing from North America, including associated segments and remaining voyages sailing immediately prior
Pacific Princess 2021 Circle South America sailing from Australia, including associated positioning cruises
All Australian and New Zealand sailings up to and including December 18, 2020 departures.
The Enchanted Princess debut has been delayed due to shipyard shutdowns. No official date has been announced as to when this ship will set sail post-COVID-19.
Holland America Line has suspended global ship operations up to and including December 15, 2020.
Holland America has sold the Maasdam, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Veendam. As a result, all future sailings onboard these vessels have been cancelled.
No further cancellations have been announced as of October 9, 2020.
Carnival Corporation's small luxury ship brand has a global ship operations halt in effect until January 1, 2021, with some sailings cancelled into Spring and Winter 2021.
Seabourn Ovation is scheduled to resume operation on January 3, 2021, with Seabourn Encore following on January 6, 2021.
Seabourn Quest operation pause will continue through May 10, 2021.
Due to shipyard closures, Seabourn's first expedition ship, Seabourn Venture, has a delayed delivery date of December 1, 2021.
Seabourn Quest has been redeployed to Antarctica, resulting in sailings to Panama Canal being cancelled from November 7- December 19, 2021.
All sailings across Cunard's entire fleet are cancelled up to March 25, 2021.
Scheduled Return Dates:
Queen Elizabeth: March 25, 2021
Queen Mary 2: April 18, 2021
Queen Victora: May 16, 2021
No Further cancellations have been announced.
AIDA, Carnival Corporation's German brand, will be the company's second brand to restart cruising officially on October 17, 2020.
Cancellations by ships (As of 10/20/2020) :
AIDAaura: Up to and including October 25, 2020
AIDAbella: Up to April 29, 2021
AIDAblu: (Orginal Itinararies) Up to April 4, 2021
AIDAcara: Up to February 8, 2021
AIDAdiva: Up to April 7, 2021
AIDAmar: Up to November 1, 2020
AIDAmira: Up to April 25, 2021
AIDAnova: Up to November 11, 2020
AIDAperla: Up to April 27, 2021
AIDAprima: Up to Dcember 15, 2020
AIDAsol: Up to February 19, 2021
AIDAstella: Up to December 12, 2020
AIDAvita: Up to April 20, 2021
Costa was the first Carnival Corporation line back in service with Costa Deliziosa sailing on September 5, 2020. Costa ships are limited to only Italian citizens. Costa Diadema and Costa Smeralda, Costa's largest and newest ship, are both now sailing. All three ships sailing are under strict health protocols, including masks wearing for most of your sailing.
Additional Costa information:
All North American departures are cancelled up to December 18, 2020.
P&O has cancelled all UK departures until early 2021 and Caribbean cruises until late January 2021.
P&O's largest and newest ship, Iona, is now finally part of the P&O fleet after a few delays due to COVID-19. Iona officially joined the P&O fleet on October 12, 2020, but will follow the company's operations suspension until 2021.
P&O Australia:
The Australia branch of P&O has confirmed the cancellation of all sailings until December 17, 2020.
No further information is available from P&O.
Royal Caribbean Group (RCG)
The second-largest cruise company in the world, Royal Caribbean Group, is comprised of six cruise lines. Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea, and Azamara proudly fall under the Royal Caribbean Group. Additionally, RCG is invested in a joint venture at a 50% stake for TUI Cruises and Hapag Lloyd.
Global sailing suspension until December 1, 2020, excluding sailings from Hong Kong.
Australia's sailings cancelled through 2020.
Quantum of the Seas, initially scheduled sailing from December 2, 2020- March 22, 2020, are cancelled.
Quantum of the Seas will now sail three and four-night cruises departing from Singapore.
Odyssey of the Seas, sailing from November 5, 2020 - April 17, 2021, are cancelled due to shipyard delays and a delayed debut. Odyessy will debut in the Mediterranean.
Global sailings cancelled up to and including November 30, 2021.
Full Australia/Asia Winter 2020/21 season.
No further information is available at this time from Celebrity Cruises.
Next sailing date by ship:
Silver Cloud: March 19, 2021
Silver Wind: June 14, 2021
Silver Shadow: December 4, 2020
Silver Muse: December 1, 2020
Silver Whisper: December 9, 2020
Silver Explorer: February 9, 2021
Silver Dawn: November 9, 2021
Silver Origin: December 5, 2020
No Further information is available at this time from Silversea.
After surveying guests, Azamara has found it necessary to cancel all sailings into Spring 2021.
Next sailing date by ship:
Azamara Quest: March 20, 2021
Azamara Journey: April 9, 2021
Azamara Pursuit: May 9, 2021
No further information is available at this time from Azamara.
TUI Cruises and Hapage Llyod are now sailing under strict new health protocols.
The third-largest cruise company, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, proudly sails three cruise lines. Brands include Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas.
Global sailing operations halt through November 2020.
Additional Cancelations:
-Sailings onboard Norwegian Star, Norwegian Dawn, and Norwegian Spirit are cancelled through March 2021.
Global sailing operations halt through November 2020.
Additional Cancelations:
-Full 2021 World cruise
-All sailings onboard Seven Seas Mariner through April 2021.
Global sailing operations halt through November 2020.
Additional Cancelations:
All Sailings onboard Insignia cancelled up to May 18, 2021