Princess Cruises Extends Pause of Cruise Vacations on Roundtrip Southampton Sailings through September 25, 2021

[LACruiser88]

More cancellations...

 

 

SANTA CLARITA, Calif., March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As Princess Cruises continues to review and assess its operations following the recent UK Government announcement on the roadmap to ease lockdown and related international travel restrictions, the company is extending the pause of its UK-based cruise vacations, sailing roundtrip from Southampton, through September 25, 2021 on Sky Princess, Regal Princess and Island Princess.

   

For UK guests, Princess Cruises will launch a series of new short cruises departing in late- summer on Regal Princess and Sky Princess from Southampton that will go on sale later this month.

"We share in our guests' disappointment over these cancelled voyages, and we appreciate the continued understanding and cooperation from our loyal guests and travel advisors," said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. "As we prepare our ships for a return to service, we remain in close contact with the UK Government to monitor the latest travel guidance for international guests."

For guests booked on a cancelled voyage, Princess will offer to move guests to the equivalent cruise in 2022. The rebooking process will have the added benefit of protecting the guests' 2021 fare on their 2022 voyage. Alternatively, guests can choose a future cruise credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 10% of the cruise fare paid (minimum $25 USD) or a full refund to the original form of payment.

For guests currently booked on a cancelled voyage where there is no matched cruise available in 2022, guests will automatically receive a refundable future cruise credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 10% of the cruise fare paid (minimum $25). Alternatively, guests can request a full refund to the original form of payment.

Requests must be received through this online form by April 15, 2021 or guests will automatically receive the FCC option. FCCs can be used on any cruises booked by and sailing by December 31, 2022.

Princess will transfer the commission earned by travel agents from the cancelled 2021 cruise to the new booking in 2022 that was paid in full.  This convenience is in recognition of the critical role they play in the cruise line's business and success.

The most current information and instructions for booked guests affected by these cancellations, and more information on FCCs and refunds, can be found online at Information on Impacted & Cancelled Cruises.

[southamptoncruisers]

No summer cruising from the UK this summer on Princess

[chrysalis]

Princess Cruises Extends Pause of Cruise Vacations on Roundtrip Southampton Sailings through September 25, 2021 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

[azbirdmom]

Yes, I figured this would happen.  We were booked on one of the cancelled British Isles cruises and I had it as a saved cruise to make price checks easier.  Well about an hour ago it showed as unavailable and all Sky Princess cruises this summer were removed from the search engine.  When that has happened before, it is quickly followed by cancellation.  So there goes another cruise 😭

[paphoslady]

Yes ours gone too, 2nd this year so far

[dides]

10 minutes ago, southamptoncruisers said:

No summer cruising from the UK this summer on Princess

Actually, there will be some shorter ex-UK cruises added, for UK guests only:

Princess Cruises has revealed it will launch a series of short UK cruises departing in late summer. Regal Princess and Sky Princess will offer short breaks and week-long holidays sailing from Southampton. The cruises are available to UK guests only and will go on sale later this month.

The MedallionClass ships Regal Princess and Sky Princess will provide guests with ‘Truly Touchless’ experiences through the cruise line’s MedallionClass experience and OceanMedallion wearable device, offering a number of new features that significantly enhance the guest experience whilst also supporting new health protocols. Streamlined check-in, simplified safety training, reductions in queueing and the ability to order food and drink to anywhere on the ship are just some of the ways Princess Cruises is leveraging the OceanMedallion technology to transform the cruise experience.

Tony Roberts, vice president Princess Cruises UK & Europe, said: “Recent announcements from the UK Government on the roadmap to the end of lockdown has given us all optimism that we will be able to have a summer break.  

“When restrictions are lifted, it is clear that holidays in the UK will be the first to restart before the gradual return of international travel. We are eager to welcome our guests back onboard as soon as it is safe to do so. By offering a series of short UK breaks, we can provide guests with a relaxed holiday at sea so they can enjoy a much-needed getaway.

“In order to offer these new cruises, we have unfortunately had to cancel our current ex-UK programme through late September. We share in our guests’ disappointment over these cancelled cruises and we appreciate the continued understanding and cooperation from our loyal guests and travel agents.” .

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks...P&O announced today similar cancelations that will also be replaced by shorter cruises that will be available later in March.

 

MIAMI, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- P&O Cruises will offer a series of short break and week-long UK cruises as "the ultimate escape" staycation this summer. The cruises will go on sale later in March.
 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/po-cruises-offer-ultimate-escape-staycation-summer

 

In the Princess release it says “For UK guests”...could that mean only for UK residents like RCI did in Singapore where their residents were only permitted. Or is it for any guest cruising from the UK. Such as statement wasn’t included in the P&O announcement.

 

Nice to see they’re offering to transfer guests to 2022 with a price guarantee like in Alaska & the other compensation is the same.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[dog]

14 minutes ago, southamptoncruisers said:

No summer cruising from the UK this summer on Princess

See link in second post. 
Correct information is directly from Princess website. 
 

will be interesting to see what is offered in late summer for UK cruisers 

[StrawberryHill]

So our June  Norway cruise is postponed for the third year in a row    Maybe its not meant to be

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

In the Princess release it says “For UK guests”...could that mean only for UK residents like RCI did in Singapore where their residents were only permitted. Or is it for any guest cruising from the UK. Such as statement wasn’t included in the P&O announcement.

 

Since the announcement was (allegedly) made as a result of UK government restrictions on international travel, I read the UK guests as meaning UK residents.

[snoozecrooze]

Actually, it's even more complicated beyond just 2021. Here's the official PDF release, along with the replacement cruises in 2022: https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/pause-extension-southampton-sept-2021.pdf

 

Princess has offered to replace cancelled Regal cruises in 2021 with what appears to be near-identical ones in 2022, also from Southampton. But Regal is supposed to be sailing in the Mediterranean during the same timeframe (as of now). So that means more cancellations and "uprootings" across the summer deployment in Europe. 

[Astro Flyer]

6 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Since the announcement was (allegedly) made as a result of UK government restrictions on international travel, I read the UK guests as meaning UK residents.

I’m inclined to agree with your assessment but their release could have been clearer to avoid any confusion.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[paphoslady]

UK residents only I think as international travel may well be banned this summer for UK citizens

[Musky Ike]

Cancelled our May cruise out of Southampton  a couple weeks ago as I figured this would happen. 

[Esprit]

I’m surprised they didn’t include fly cruises from the U.K. too. 
We are booked on Enchanted Princess for 14 nights out of Civitavecchia on 10 July. We will have had both covid jabs by then too, so if vaccination passports are introduced we will happily go.

[darknightsdespiser]

So that will be 3 years without a holiday, how can people function?

[philsuarez]

International travel for UK will resume no earlier than 17th May 2021. I think the issue will be that travel will be possible but no one in the UK will have many 'Covid safe' places to visit hence the short UK cruise holiday deployments. Makes perfect sense for UK residents 

[triple7tahoe]

And the beat down continues 🙂 I will have to wait and see just what they are saying about moving to similar cruise in 2022. I have three presently booked on two different ships. On of the three was a Casino "free stateroom" offer but I did have to pay a deposit + port fees and taxes upfront. The other two were B2b on the Regal. Will they move all three and still give me Casino Cruise as one?? I am assuming I should be canceling EZ Air flights as well. The there are the hotel reservations. At 80+ how long can they postpone my cruising before I won't be able to go?? 😞

[johnmik1]

Our 5/15 cruise will be the 18th we have had cancelled since Covid began.Princess has cancelled 16 and HAL 2.This is getting quite old!

[dreaminofcruisin]

1 hour ago, snoozecrooze said:

Actually, it's even more complicated beyond just 2021. Here's the official PDF release, along with the replacement cruises in 2022: https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/pause-extension-southampton-sept-2021.pdf

 

Princess has offered to replace cancelled Regal cruises in 2021 with what appears to be near-identical ones in 2022, also from Southampton. But Regal is supposed to be sailing in the Mediterranean during the same timeframe (as of now). So that means more cancellations and "uprootings" across the summer deployment in Europe. 

 

I am actually hoping the replacement cruises have a bunch of typos. We were supposed to be on the Sky in 2021 and the currently listed cruises in 2022 are on the Crown even though the announcement says they are on the Sky. Really hoping they are on the Crown---my favorite ship---that would be the only positive thing. Groundhogs day anyone?

[downsmead]

They are already releasing some short cruises in September and October. However, Guernsey has announced it will not be accepting cruise ships this year, and Guernsey features on most of the cruises I have seen released to date 🤷‍♀️

[nini]

What next? Mediterranean out of Rome for the rest of the year?

[Ken the cruiser]

We're booked on the Island's Northern Lights itinerary which is a R/T Southampton departing Oct 5th. We made this cut and are hoping for the best, but I guess time will tell. Hopefully by then, vaccines will be widely available throughout Europe and the curve will have flattened considerably.

[wowzz]

The short cruises being offered in July and August will be sea days only. No port stops.

[ChangeOrder]

37 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The short cruises being offered in July and August will be sea days only. No port stops.

That actually sounds lovely.