Carnival Cruise Line Australia announced on Wednesday that they would be extending their shutdown of sailings through May 15.
A statement on Carnival Australia’s website reads, “As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we are sorry to share the news that Carnival Cruise Line is pausing operations for all Australian sailings departing from 15 March 2020 through 15 May 2020.”
Impacted guests on canceled sailings will be eligible to receive a future cruise credit plus a generous onboard credit, or opt for a complete refund to the original form of payment.
Both Carnival Splendor and Carnival Spirit are slated to sail from Australia this spring. The original schedule called for Carnival Spirit to then reposition to Seattle in order to do a series of sailings to Alaska.
However, with Canada currently having closed its ports to any ships carrying 500 or more passengers, it’s uncertain how the season will progress.
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Officials for the Port of Seattle have said that the 2020 Alaska cruise season is “delayed indefinitely” as the world health situation continues to play out. So far, several sailings set for the first few weeks of the season already have been canceled.
In Other Cruise News
Elsewhere, Royal Caribbean announced they are extending their voluntary suspension of North American cruises through May 12. This immediately led to speculation as to whether other cruise lines would follow suit, as the “voluntary suspension” they currently have in place will expire in early April.
Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line told Cruise Radio, “We are aware of the decision by other cruise lines to extend the suspension of operations. We expect a decision by Fri, Mar 27 to share. We appreciate your patience and advise our guests and travel agent partners to watch their email and check Carnival.com for any update.”
