Cunard Cancels Sailings Until Spring 2021
by Jessica Montevago /
Luxury British cruise line Cunard will be extending its pause in operations for its three ships.
Queen Elizabeth's operational pause ends March 25, 2021 the Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to sail again on April 18, 2021 and the Queen Victoria won't sail until May 16, 2021.
“Queen Elizabeth has returned to the UK and with ongoing uncertainty over the re-opening of many ports and countries, it is sadly not practical to continue her planned itineraries for 2021,” Cunard President Simon Palethorpe
In addition to the pause in operations, all of Queen Elizabeth's sailings due to depart between March 26, 2021 and Dec. 13, 2021, in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska, will be cancelled. These voyages will be replaced with shorter duration European holidays ranging from three to 14 nights, departing from Southampton.
The sailings will start at the end of March 2021, with a series of sailings around the coast of Cornwall, the west coast of Ireland, and the Scottish Isles. There will also be short breaks to Amsterdam which will include an overnight in the city, as well as voyages to northern and southern European destinations including Norway and the Iberian coast, with several of these itineraries featuring overnight stays.
Queen Elizabeth's new itinerary will be completed with a series of seven and 14 night voyages in the Mediterranean, sailing from Barcelona.
All new itineraries on board Queen Elizabeth will be available to book from Sept. 29, 2020.
“Recognizing the immense disappointment of those on board Queen Mary 2's curtailed World Voyage this year, and the cancellation of her World Voyage in 2021, we are delighted that Queen Mary 2 will sail a classic World Voyage in 2022,” Palethorpe added.
This will replace scheduled sailings departing Jan. 3, 2022 to April 3, 2022, including the voyage to South America.
The new 118-night adventure will depart roundtrip from New York on Jan. 3, 2022 and include calls to 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 both on the outbound journey and on return. It will be bookable, either as a full world voyage or as one of six sectors, beginning Sept. 8, 2020.
“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 real factor in our decision making,” Palethorpe continued.
Cunard will be contacting guests and travel agents who are impacted and all guests who have had their voyage cancelled will automatically receive an enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit or can fill in the website form for a 100% refund.