When will cruise lines return to service? Here are all the latest updates
AMAWATERWAYS
UPDATED MAY 25, 2021: AmaWaterways is scheduled to resume operations on July 3, 2021. Sailing dates for July 2021 currently on the calendar are as follows: July 3, AmaDoura, Portugal; July 21 AmaMagna, Danube; July 22, AmaKristina, Rhône; July 22, AmaLyra, Seine; July 27, AmaVida, Portugal and Spain; July 29, AmaDolce, Bordeaux; July 29, AmaSiena, Rhine. More dates including sailings in August and September, and information about future cruise credits, is at https://www.amawaterways.ca/travel-updates.
AVALON WATERWAYS
UPDATED APRIL 28, 2021: Avalon Waterways has suspended operations through May 31, 2021. Effective April 2021 travellers will be required to offer Globus family of brands’ personnel one of the following printed and/or digital verifications upon arrival:
. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination at least 14 days prior to travel; or
. Proof of a negative COVID-19 test (NAAT/PCR or antigen) result within 72 hours of travel; or
. Proof of recovery from a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis within 3 months of travel
For more information about cancellations see https://www.avalonwaterways.ca/travel-update/. For more information about Avalon’s Peace of Mind Travel Plan and Avalon Assurance program see https://www.avalonwaterways.ca/avalon-assurance/.
AZAMARA
UPDATED APRIL 28, 2021: Azamara plans to resume operations with a series of Greece voyages beginning Aug. 28 2021. Bookings will open May 11 for fully vaccinated guests. Previously Azamara had extended its suspension of global operations for all sailings departing on or before June 30, 2021. Passengers impacted by Azamara’s cancellations can choose between a 125% Future Cruise Credit or a refund. More details are at https://www.azamara.com/en-ca/cruising-suspension.
BAHAMAS PARADISE CRUISE LINE
UPDATED APRIL 12, 2021: Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line has relaunched its website and booking capability amid plans to set sail again on July 2, 2021 when Grand Classica returns to the Bahamas. The company’s website is bahamasparadisecruise.com.
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE
UPDATED FEB. 25, 2021: Carnival has extended its pause in operations from U.S. ports from April 30, 2021 to May 31, 2021. A date for the resumption of operations from U.S. ports has not yet been determined.
Earlier in February, Carnival began providing more flexible options for guests booked into early summer so that they could cancel their reservation without penalty if they needed or wanted to make other plans. As it has done throughout the pause, Carnival is providing guests on cruises cancelled the choice of a future cruise credit plus onboard credit package, or a full refund.
Carnival’s latest updates are here.
CELEBRITY CRUISES
UPDATED MAY 28, 2021: Celebrity Cruises will be the first cruise line to deploy a ship from U.S. waters in more than a year. Celebrity Edge, which has met all CDC requirements and standards, will depart Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on June 26 on a seven-night Caribbean cruise.
Celebrity Millennium will homeport in St. Maarten starting June 5, 2021. New seven-night Caribbean itineraries will depart through August 2021. Adult guests will also need to be vaccinated while children under the age of 18 will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of embarkation.
Other than that Celebrity Cruises has extended the suspension of sailings through May 31, 2021. More details are at https://www.celebritycruises.com/travel-alert/voluntary-suspension-of-cruising.
CELESTYAL CRUISES
UPDATED MARCH 15, 2021: Celestyal Cruises is hoping to restart operations on May 29, 2021. Guests currently booked on the cancelled late April 2021 through May 2021 voyages will have the option to receive a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the amount paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 20% of the actual cruise fare paid. Plus, Celestyal has announced that it will allow guests currently holding FCCs as well as those about to receive FCCs as a result of the new recommencement date the chance to apply their FCC towards Celestyal’s soon-to-be-announced 2023 itineraries, in addition to 2021 and 2022 itineraries. For more details click here.
COSTA CRUISES
Costa Cruises’ current potential restart dates are May 28, 2021 for Costa Pacifica; May 29, 2021 for Costa Magica and Costa Deliziosa; May 30, 2021 for Costa Firenze; June 1, 2021 for Costa Smeralda; June 4, 2021 for Costa Diadema; June 5, 2021 for Costa Fortuna; June 6, 2021 for Costa Favolosa and Costa Luminosa; June 7, 2021 for Costa Fascinosa; and Dec. 26, 2021 for Costa Toscana. FCCs are available. More information is at https://www.costacruises.com/cruising-soon.html.
CROISIEUROPE
CroisiEurope has flexible terms and conditions for cancelled cruises March 1 – April 30, 2021. For details see here.
CRYSTAL CRUISES
UPDATED MAY 31, 2021: Details about cancellations for Crystal Cruises, Crystal River Cruises and Crystal Yacht Cruises are available at https://www.crystalcruises.com/advisory-alerts/voyage-cancellations. Crystal announced in Feb. 2021 that it will now require all guests to be fully inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to their Crystal cruise. Guests will need to provide proof of vaccination before embarkation and must have received both doses of the vaccine if recommended by the manufacturer by that timeline. Crystal will also be the first ocean-going cruise line to restart cruises in the Americas, with new all-Bahamian 7-night cruise itineraries onboard Crystal Serenity, starting July 3, 2021. Crystal River Cruises has confirmed that plans are underway to resume Europe operations starting Aug. 29, 2021.
CUNARD
UPDATED MARCH 11, 2021: Cunard is extending its pause in operations until Oct. 11, 2021 for Queen Elizabeth sailings (including summer Mediterranean fly-cruise season); until Nov. 12, 2021 for Queen Mary 2 sailings; and until Aug. 27, 2021 for Queen Victoria sailings. Guests with bookings impacted by the cancellations will see their guest account credited with a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) worth an additional 25% on top of monies paid to date on their booking, which they may redeem against any voyage on sale now or on any new voyage that Cunard introduces in the future. Guests have until Dec. 31, 2021 to use the FCC on a new booking.See https://www.cunard.com/en-us/contact-us/travel-health-advisories.
DISNEY CRUISE LINE
UPDATED FEB. 24, 2021: Disney Cruise Line has extended suspension of all departures through May 2021, and Disney Magic sailings through August 10. Disney Cruise Line is also evaluating various options for the Disney Wonder’s scheduled season in Alaska, in light of the Canadian government’s announcement that they will not allow ships with more than 100 passengers to dock in any Canadian port until February 28, 2022. Once a decision is made, the cruise line will reach out to guests booked on these sailings. For questions about all DCL sailings, passengers who booked their reservation through a travel agent to contact their agent directly with any questions. Passengers who booked directly with Disney Cruise Line and have questions after receiving their email should call (866) 325-6685 or (407) 566-7797. More details are at https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/advisory/.
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
UPDATED MAY 25, 2021: Bookings are open for 10 Saturday departures that will operate from July 24 through Oct. 2, to Alaska on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam. The seven-day ‘Alaskan Explorer’ itinerary calls at Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Sitka and Ketchikan. More information about Holland America line sailings and cancellations is available here.
HURTIGRUTEN
UPDATED MARCH 5, 2021: Hurtigruten has updated its list of cancelled sailings. For a full list click here.
MSC CRUISES
UPDATED MARCH 15, 2021: MSC Cruises has updated the itineraries for the start of its 2021 summer season as a result of the delay in the return to availability of certain ports across Europe and is cancelling all other itineraries in the West Mediterranean for April and May, with cruises resuming from June as planned. Similarly, in the East Med cruises are cancelled for April, with cruises resuming from May as planned. In Northern Europe, all itineraries are cancelled in April. Finally, in the Caribbean all itineraries are cancelled through to May 31. Guests impacted by these changes will be able to rebook on another cruise – including MSC Seaside and MSC Grandiosa in the Mediterranean – and should check with their travel advisor for specific updates to their ship or visit here. For further information on specific itineraries please visit here.
NCL
UPDATED MAY 26, 2021: NCL expects to resume cruise operations from the U.S. beginning Aug. 7, 2021 with week-long voyages from Seattle to Alaska aboard Norwegian Bliss. In other NCL updates, Norwegian Epic will cruise seven-night Western Med itineraries out of Barcelona Sept. 5, 2021 – Oct. 24, 2021. Norwegian Getaway will sail a mix of 10 to 11-day Greek Isles voyages from Rome (Civitavecchia) Sept. 13, 2021 – Oct. 25, 2021. Norwegian Jade’s seven-day cruises to the Greek Isles will sail out of Athens (Piraeus) starting July 25, 2021. And week-long Caribbean itineraries will operate from Montego Bay starting Aug. 7, 2021 on Norwegian Joy, and from La Romana, D.R. starting Aug. 15, 2021 on Norwegian Gem. Aside from that NCL has extended its suspension of global operations to June 30, 2021. More details are at https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/suspended-sailings.
OCEANIA CRUISES
UPDATED MARCH 17, 2021: Oceania Cruises has extended its suspension of global operations to June 30, 2021. More information is at https://www.oceaniacruises.com/coronavirus-statement, plus details about Oceania’s Travelers Assurance Program can be found at
https://www.oceaniacruises.com/assurance.
PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES
UPDATED FEB. 22, 2021: Paul Gauguin Cruises has suspended its cruise departures up to and including June 5, 2021. More information is here.
PRINCESS
UPDATED MAY 25, 2021: Princess announced in mid-May that departing July 25 through September 26, 2021, Princess will offer roundtrip Seattle, seven-day cruises to Alaska, onboard Majestic Princess. Ports of call include Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, as well as Glacier Bay National Park. For information about cancellations and FCCs go to https://www.princess.com/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/.
REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES
UPDATED JUNE 2, 2021: All five ships in the Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleet are on their way back. The cruise line says it intends to preserve already published itineraries as much as possible, beginning with Seven Seas Explorer on October 16, 2021, from Venice, as the ship takes over five of Seven Seas Mariner’s published cruises, with Mariner going into a technical dry-dock. Seven Seas Mariner will resume sailing December 18, 2021, from Miami, as will Seven Seas Navigator on January 6, 2022. Finally, Seven Seas Voyager will return on February 15, 2022 from Barcelona.
As part of the return to sail plan, 17 new sailings in Europe and the Caribbean have been created for Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Voyager, which can be viewed at RSSC.com/Regent-returns.
RIVIERA RIVER CRUISES
UPDATED JUNE 2, 2021: Riviera River Cruises plans to restart its European river cruises in July 2021 with departures on Portugal’s Douro River. Riviera’s first departure of its eight-day Douro, Porto and Salamanca river cruise will be on July 2 aboard the MS Douro Elegance. All passengers boarding Riviera ships will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or present a negative test prior to travel.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN
UPDATED MAY 26, 2021: Royal Caribbean is launching its Alaska season with seven-night cruises roundtrip from Seattle on the Serenade and Ovation of the Seas starting July 19 and Aug. 13, respectively.
In March 2021 Royal Caribbean announced Bermuda & Bahamas itineraries on Vision of the Seas, and Cozumel & Bahamas itineraries on Adventure of the Seas, for summer 2021. Passengers 18 years of age and older must show proof of being fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (passengers under 18 years of age will be required to present negative COVID-19 test results).
Royal Caribbean has extended the suspension of sailings for its global fleet through May 31, 2021 – excluding sailings onboard Quantum, Spectrum, Voyager, and Odyssey of the Seas. The cruise line’s plan is to resume further operation in June 2021; however, the following circumstances have extended the suspension for the following ships and sailings:
• Quantum of the Seas’ Alaska sailings departing April 5 to October 14, 2021: In order to allow additional time for preparation, Quantum of the Seas will remain in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Odyssey of the Seas’ May 9 to October 28, 2021 sailings departing from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy. Instead, Odyssey will begin its inaugural season out of a new homeport, Haifa, Israel from June to October 2021. These new sailings are available for residents of Israel only.
More information is at https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates.
SEABOURN
UPDATED APRIL 8, 2021: New 7- and 14-day Greek Isles voyages onboard Seabourn Ovation are scheduled to set sail from July 3 to Oct. 16, 2021. These voyages are only available for guests who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Guests must complete their pre-boarding health questionnaire and their required PCR COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours prior to departure.
Seabourn’s other dates for potential resumption of sailings are:
Seabourn Sojourn, with its next scheduled departure now set for July 3, 2021.
Seabourn Encore, with its next scheduled departure now set for July 3, 2021.
Seabourn Quest, with its next scheduled departure now set for November 7, 2021.
For more details click here.
SCENIC GROUP
UPDATED MARCH 8, 2021: The Scenic Group says that travel restrictions, international border closures, quarantine requirements and the extension of lockdowns in many countries, continue to make it impossible for it to fully operate its Scenic Eclipse Arctic season from June 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, including the East Coast USA Adventure (701U) scheduled to depart on Sept. 27 2021. FTC options for those cruises, as well as for river cruise, ocean cruise and land tour bookings departing May 1 – 31, 2021, can be found here.
SILVERSEA
UPDATED JUNE 2, 2021: Silver Muse will offer Alaska cruises out of Seattle starting July 29, 2021 and Silver Shadow will circumnavigate Iceland with the launch of new all-Icelandic itineraries, returning to Northern Europe with three 10-day voyages from Reykjavik, beginning July 30, 2021. Silversea’s new flagship, Silver Moon, will offer Eastern Med sailings starting June 18, 2021.
Silversea has joined the growing list of cruise lines to require all guests and crew to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to boarding. For all other ships and sailings, Silversea is using a rolling cancellation system, in which the cruise line is cancelling cruises only when it knows that it is unable to operate them. For the latest list of potential return-to-operations dates for Silversea’s ships, and details about refunds and FTCs, see: https://www.silversea.com/information-on-itinerary-changes.html.
ST. LAWRENCE CRUISE LINES
UPDATED APRIL 28, 2021: St. Lawrence Cruise Lines is delaying the start of its 2021 season to June 24. Overnight cruises on the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers are available from June 24 – Oct. 24, 2021. This latest update comes after the small-ship operator safely and successfully completed its 2020 fall cruise schedule.
COVID-19 safety measures were present in all aspects of St. Lawrence Cruise Lines’ cruising experience, including passenger screening, reduced passenger loads, physical distancing and mask protocols, as well as a hospital-grade electrostatic disinfectant regime. The line’s M/V Canadian Empress has 32 staterooms with twin fixed beds, private bathrooms, and access to fresh air and views of the river. Bookings for the 2021 season are underway and travel agents can call 1-800-267-7868 for booking availability. Information on the cruise schedule, itineraries, and safety measures and itineraries is available at stlawrencecruiselines.com.
UNIWORLD
UPDATED MAY 25, 2021: Uniworld will restart cruises in Italy on June 20, 2021 with its recently transformed Super Ship, S.S. La Venezia. Cruises will resume in France shortly thereafter, with first departures for S.S. Bon Voyage on June 27, S.S. Joie de Vivre on July 4, and S.S. Catherine on July 11.
Agents can email or call Uniworld with changes and/or cancellations. Agents with individual bookings for clients can email Reservations@Uniworld.com or call 1-800-733-7820. Agents with group bookings can email GroupInfo@Uniworld.com or call 1-800-425-0043. Uniworld says its office is open from 7 a.m – 5 p.m., Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. Additional details can be found here.
VICTORY CRUISE LINE
Victory Cruise Line cancelled all planned 2020 itineraries and says it’s looking forward to the upcoming 2021 season, which includes the debut of new ship Ocean Victory in Alaska. For more information go to https://www.victorycruiselines.com/alerts/.
VIKING RIVER CRUISES
UPDATED MAY 21, 2021: Viking has set its sights on a July 2021 restart for its European river operations, with select itineraries sailing in Portugal, France and along the Rhine. For details see https://www.vikingrivercruisescanada.com/. Information about cancellations, last updated May 6, is at https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html.
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