Cunard and P&O Cruises have extended the suspension of all voyages as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow around the world.

Both Carnival Corporation-owned lines will not set sail again until at least May 15th.

Cunard said it would continue to monitor government guidelines and travel restrictions in ports of call around the world, and this may mean there are further changes to the timing of when each of the ships returns to service. 

Simon Palethorpe, president of Cunard, said: “The impact of Covid-19 is affecting personal routines and businesses as well as placing significant travel restrictions around the world.

“Everyone in the Cunard team is aware of the need to support the management and containment of Covid-19 globally.

“This includes protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew. It is therefore right we extend the pause in operations.”

Cunard and P&O Cruises guests who were due to sail between April 11th and May 15th will automatically receive a 125 per cent future cruise credit. 

P&O Cruises president, Paul Ludlow, added: “It is clear that our original date of April 11th to resume sailings, which would have been a 30 day pause in operations, is just not feasible in light of the government announcements last week.

“Regrettably, therefore, we are now extending this pause until May.

“Given the current guidelines it is prudent and practical to extend the pause until normal operations can be resumed.

“As we work through the evolving restriction on ports around the world future itineraries may be subject to change and so we are looking at how we phase our ships back into service.”

Coronavirus

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