P&O Cruises has extended its pause in operations into April.

The line said the move was in response to the current uncertainty around European ports of call.

It follows similar announcements from other Carnival-owned cruise brands, including Seabourn and Princess Cruises.

P&O Cruises’ will now be out of the water for more than a year, with the first cancellations having taken place last March as Covid-19 began to spread.

P&O Cruises president, Paul Ludlow, said: “With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.

“In addition, as the final payments are due for these cruises very soon, we felt it was the right thing to do for our guests.

“We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel but really hope they will re-book for later in the year or for our new programme of 2022 holidays which went on sale earlier this month with strong demand, showing great confidence in cruising in the future.”