Skift Take

The cruise lines will face a struggle to restart at scale, because there's a reputation to shake off, as well as rising cases to contend with.

Carnival Corp‘s Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia on Wednesday canceled voyages in and out of the country through mid-December, citing uncertainty regarding the resumption of cruise holidays.

Australia banned the entry of cruise ships in March 2020 when they were the source of most of the country’s early Covid-19 cases. The curbs were extended last month to Sept. 17.

P&O Cruises Australia said in a statement that the industry had been in talks with the Australian government and public health authorities since last October for the re-start of domestic-only cruising.

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“They (the cruise businesses) are like every business in Australia — they need certainty, and I am concerned they may find it increasingly difficult to hang on without a clear pathway forward,” P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell said.

Princess Cruises said in a separate statement that it would move guests booked for a canceled trip to an equivalent cruise next year.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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Tags: australia, carnival corp., coronavirus, princess cruises

Photo credit: Australia banned the entry of cruise ships in March 2020. Caroline Voelker / Unsplash

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