The most notable swath of cancellations on Thursday came from Royal Caribbean, the world's largest cruise line by passenger capacity. The Miami-based line canceled all departures worldwide for June with the exception of sailings on a handful of ships that are in the midst of resuming operations in such places as the Bahamas and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Royal Caribbean's smaller sister brand, Celebrity Cruises, canceled all June departures with the exception of recently announced Caribbean voyages out of the island of St. Martin and Eastern Mediterranean voyages out of Piraeus, Greece, which will start in June.
Until Thursday, both lines only had canceled a large array of sailings through the end of May.
The new cancellations from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity come during a week that also saw significant cancellations of June, July and even August sailings by Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Viking, Virgin Voyages and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Carnival and Disney canceled all June sailings, while Viking, Oceania and Regent canceled all or most sailings through the end of July. Norwegian canceled a wide swath of sailings all the way through the end of August, and Virgin canceled all previously announced departures through Sept. 17.
Still, even as they canceled more departures, several lines announced budding plans for a restart of operations over the coming months with at least a few ships.
Norwegian, for instance, on Tuesday said it would resume limited sailings out of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Greece starting in July and August.
For now, Norwegian plans to have just three of its 17 vessels operating in July and August.
Also on Tuesday, luxury line Seabourn revealed plans to restart cruising in July with sailings of a single ship operating out of Piraeus, Greece (the port for Athens). On Thursday, luxury line Silversea announced plans to restart cruising in July with a single ship sailing out of Piraeus.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Crystal Cruises in recent days also have announced new or expanded restart plans that involve a small number of ships.
The latest round of cancellations is coming as cruise lines continue to be blocked from sailing from U.S. ports by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The health agency has banned cruise ships from sailing in U.S. waters since the coronavirus pandemic began in March of 2020. Other countries currently blocking cruise ships from operating include Canada.
Cruise lines have been pushing the U.S. government and governments of some other countries to allow them to resume operations with new health protocols in early summer.
Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:
- The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship
- The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship
- A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
- 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
- 15 ways cruisers waste money
- 12 best cruises for people who never want to grow up
- What to pack for your first cruise
