Carnival’s Princess Cruises extends cruise suspension until summer end

(Reuters) – Princess Cruises, a Carnival Corp unit, said on Wednesday that it is canceling select cruises through the end of the summer of 2020 due to reduced flight availability and the closure of ports in regions around the world.

Some of the canceled cruises include cruises sailing to Hawaii and French Polynesia on Pacific Princess ship and Australia-based cruises on Sapphire Princess and Sea Princess, with some cruises suspended through November.

The COVID-19 pandemic that has killed over a quarter of a million people around the world has taken a toll on cruise operators, as travel restrictions and fear of the virus spreading have led to multiple extensions to voyage suspensions.

At least three of Carnival’s Princess Cruises unit became hotbeds for coronavirus infections. One of them, the Ruby Princess, became part of a homicide investigation in Australia as the country’s deadliest virus infection source.

Earlier this week, Carnival said on Monday it planned to resume cruises on eight ships from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston on August 1.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)