Carnival PLC (LON:CCL)(NYSE:CCL) will tie up its 18 Princess Cruises ships for two months as the coronavirus outbreak hits demand.
The London- and New York-listed group said cruise scheduled to finish beyond March 17 will disembark early at convenient port, but those due to end in the next five days will continue to sail to their final destination.
“Princess Cruises is a global vacation company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.
He said pausing for 60 days was a “bold action” that was intended to “reassure our loyal guests”.
The company also said the cancellations were a “proactive response” and “an abundance of caution”.
Carnival will offer affected passengers the opportunity to transfer in full any money paid for their cancelled holiday to a future Princess Cruise, or a cash refund, and said it will “protect” travel advisor commissions on bookings for cancelled cruises that were paid in full.