P&O Cruises has extended its suspension on trips in Australia, dashing hopes of summer sailing over , as the Covid variant continues to spread.
The cruising juggernaut has announced it will extend its pause on eagerly-anticipated global sailing trips until March 3, 2022.
The disappointing news comes just weeks after cruise ship representatives met with staff from the Premier’s office to find a way to restart cruising safely.
was set to become the first state to allow cruising from February 1, following the 21 months the vessels have been banned from Australian waters.
However, concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid has forced major cruise companies to re-think restarting operations over the summer.
P&O Cruises has extended its suspension on trips in Australia dashing hopes of summer sailing over Christmas (pictured, a Cunard ship docked in Sydney Harbour in 2009)
P&O Cruises t has announced it will extend its pause on eagerly-anticipated global sailing trips until March 3, 2022 (pictured, passengers on the Ruby Princess Cruise Ship in April, 2020)
Operator thoát vị đĩa đệm nguyên nhân P&O recently announced they would be cancelling cruises out of Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns and postponing sailing trips departing from Sydney and Brisbane between February 15 and March 3.
Departures to Papua New Guinea will be cancelled up until October 3, while those planning a trip to Cairns will have to wait until June 29.
P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell said while recent speculation on the lifting of the ban on cruise ships had been ‘encouraging’ uncertainty still remained.
‘Given this difficult situation, we wanted to treat our loyal guests with respect and to provide certainty in relation to their much-anticipated cruise holiday plans as well as limit any