Luxury cruise line Cunard has extended the pause in operations for its three ships, Queen Elizabeth till March 25, 2021, Queen Mary 2 until April 18, 2021 and Queen Victoria until May 16, 2021, till May 2021, following FCO guidelines.
All of Queen Elizabeth?s sailings which were due to depart between March 26, 2021 and December 13, 2021, in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska, also stand cancelled. These voyages will be replaced with programmes of shorter duration, such as a European holiday sailing for three to 14 nights, at the end of March 2021. Departing from Southampton, the sailing will include scenic voyages around the coast of Cornwall, the west coast of Ireland and the Scottish Isles.
Some shorter breaks to Amsterdam, and voyages to northern and southern European destinations, such as Norway and the Iberian coast, with an overnight stay in the city are also included. All new itineraries on board Queen Elizabeth will be available for booking from September 29, this year.
Queen Mary 2?s cancelled World Voyages in 2020 and 2021, will be reintroduced with a classic World Voyage in 2022. It will replace her previously scheduled sailings to South America, between January 3, 2022 and April 3, 2022. The new classic World Voyage, will be a 104-night adventure, departing from Southampton on January 10, 2022, and calling at Greece, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia and Bali, before returning to Southampton via Abu Dhabi, Oman, Italy and Portugal. The ship will sail through the Suez Canal on the outbound journey as well as on its return. The trip will be available for booking partially or wholly from September 8, this year.
Cunard will be contacting travel agents whose clients have been impacted due to the cancellations and will receive an enhanced 125% future cruise credit in lieu of their payments.
Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said, ?We apologise to all those guests who were due to sail on any of the cancelled voyages and for the disappointment this news may cause. Given the current uncertainty, the complexity of our scheduled World Voyage with our international mix of guests visiting many countries and continents, each with its own evolving travel regulations was a very crucial factor in our decision making. After careful consideration and reviewing the latest guidance, we simply did not feel it sensible enough, to start sailing again.?
?So we have reviewed our future itineraries. Queen Elizabeth?s new programme will be completed with a series of seven and 14 night voyages in the Mediterranean, sailing from Barcelona. It is an exciting new programme which I am sure, will have a great appeal,? he added.
For more details about the changes in operations: https://www.cunard.com/en-gb
