Three major cruise lines just postponed sailings on 18 ships — here are all the cruises that have been canceled amid the Omicron surge

OSTN Staff

Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong in October 2021. Tall buildings line the background.
Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong in October 2021.

  • Norwegian has postponed sailings across 12 cruise ships amid a spike in COVID-19.
  • Two Royal Caribbean Group cruise lines have also paused sailings on six ships.
  • These are all the cruise ships Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity have postponed.

Three major cruise lines have canceled sailings on a combined 18 ships as COVID-19 continues to spike around the world amid spread of the Omicron variant.

The majority of cruise ships sailing in the US have reported COVID-19 outbreaks in the last several weeks, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These ongoing outbreaks have barred cruise ships from docking at ports of calls, forced passengers to quarantine aboard ships, and infected crew members

Amid these disruptions, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have postponed several sailings, citing travel restrictions or the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost 250 cruises were set to sail throughout the first month of 2022, but this ongoing rise in COVID-19 cases could continue to cause further cancellations.

These are all the cruise vessels now facing cancelations:

Norwegian Cruise Line 

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Pearl on the water in Amsterdam on a sunny day.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl in Amsterdam.

In early January, Norwegian announced it will be canceling itineraries aboard eight ships due to “ongoing travel restrictions.” Shortly after, the cruise line began reporting additional postponements, bringing the total to 12 vessels:

  • Norwegian Pearl — postponed through January 17 
  • Norwegian Dawn — postponed through January 18 
  • Norwegian Getaway — postponed through January 19 
  • Norwegian Escape — postponed through January 22 
  • Norwegian Joy — postponed through January 22 
  • Norwegian Breakaway — postponed through January 23
  • Norwegian Sky — postponed through February 25 
  • Pride of America — postponed through February 26 
  • Norwegian Jade — postponed through March 3 
  • Norwegian Star — postponed through March 19
  • Norwegian Sun — postponed through April 19 
  • Norwegian Spirit — postponed through April 23

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas ship
Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas ship.

Citing “ongoing COVID-related circumstances,” Royal Caribbean has also canceled sailings aboard five ships:

  • Vision of the Seas — postponed until March 7
  • Serenade of the Seas — postponed until April 26
  • Jewel of the Seas — postponed until February 20
  • Symphony of the Seas — postponed until January 29
  • Independence of the Seas — postponed until January 22, 2022

The Vision of the Seas is currently being used as a quarantine vessel for Royal Caribbean crew who have contracted COVID-19.

Celebrity Cruises

Three people standing on the side of a road looking at the docked Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship in 2010.
The Celebrity Eclipse in April 2010.

Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises has canceled four sailings from March 26 through April 16 aboard the Celebrity Eclipse, which has yet to return to service, a spokesperson for the cruise line told Insider on Monday.

Are you a cruise ship worker or did you recently contract COVID-19 on a cruise ship? If you have a story to share, email this reporter at bchang@insider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Powered by WPeMatico

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.