Royal Caribbean Group today announced the extension of their pause in operations up to and including February 28, 2020. With the exception of some Asian-based sailings Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea, and Azamara Cruises are preparing for a year without sailings. With an abundance of caution as a majority of the world enters the second wave of COVID-19, Royal Caribbean will be spending the additional downtime developing social distancing measures and operational procedures to put in place as soon as they are ready to sail guests.
Royal Caribbean had this to say in a statement:
As our priority continues to be the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit, we continue to prepare for our operational return. We are committed to taking the time to get it right, so the decision has been made to further extend our list of suspended sailings through February 28, 2021. Exceptions to this include Singapore sailings onboard Quantum of the Seas, and Spectrum of the Seas’ China departures between January 24 - February 28, 2021. Additionally, the remainder of the Australia/New Zealand season has been cancelled — through April 2021.
We will continue to tackle this year's challenges head-on and face each and every one of them together as partners. We are working tirelessly to offer you and your clients safe and healthy cruising. As we strengthen our continued partnership with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), please know that we are taking a very thorough approach and, therefore, require a little extra time.