Holland America and Princess Extend Sailing Suspension for Rest of 2020 Summer Season

Holland America Line and Princess Cruises on Wednesday both announced they will be extending voluntarily sailing suspensions due to the spread of COVID-19.

Holland America said it would pause its global cruise operations and cancel all of its Alaska, Europe, and Canada/New England sailings for 2020, along with its 79-day Grand Voyage sailing in Amsterdam out of Boston.

Princess Cruises said it would be canceling all of its Alaska, Canada and New England, and Europe Cruises and Cruisetours for the rest of 2020, along with all remaining Australia and Caribbean sailings through August, the rest of its Japan Cruises through Oct. 1, the rest of its Taiwan Cruises in July, and all of its Fall 2020 Tahiti & French Polynesia Cruises on Pacific Princess.

“As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented and challenging times, the best decision right now is to extend our pause in operations into the fall,” Holland America’s president Orlando Ashford said in a statement. “While this is disappointing and we never want to let our guests down, as soon as it makes sense we will be back cruising again.”

Both Princess and Holland America will allow guests to request a refund for all monies paid or opt for a future cruise credit (FCC)—for those who have paid in full, the FCC will be worth 125% of the value of the cruise fare paid and for those who haven’t, the lines are offering a matching bonus FCC for the amount of their deposit up to the base fare amount of the current cruise.

All bookings impacted on both cruise lines will have their monies automatically transferred to the FCC. Guests and travel advisors can make the change to a refund through their websites.

Both lines are still monitoring the global health situation and neither have set a date for a return to service yet.