“In the interest of doing what’s right and upholding our core values, I regretfully am announcing a 60 day pause of our global ship operations,” Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz said in a video released on Twitter.
Princess cruises currently underway and scheduled to end before March 17 will carry on as planned, the company said. Voyages scheduled to go beyond March 17 will be ended at the “most convenient location for guests.”
Affected customers can request a cash refund online, or can get credit for a free cruise.
Princess is owned by Carnival Corporation and headquartered in Santa Clarita. One of its ships, the Diamond Princess, recently had one of the largest clusters outside China of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. More than 700 passengers and crew were infected.
On Wednesday, Viking Cruises officials announced that they are temporarily suspending cruises taking place between March 12 to April 30, 2020.
“Our ships are small floating cities. Just as life happens in cities for good and for bad–the same happens onboard our ships.” Our President, Jan Swartz shares how COVID-19 has affected guests on our ships and fellow team members, but also people around the world.#princesscruises pic.twitter.com/jNr5GaA4iw
— Princess Cruises (@PrincessCruises) March 6, 2020
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