Princess Cruises temporarily canceling all trips because of growing coronavirus concerns
Princess Cruises, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corporation, announced early Thursday that it is temporarily pausing global operations of its 18 cruise ships for two months out of an “abundance of caution” over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move will affect trips departing Thursday, March 12 to May 10, according to the company.
The decision comes after Princess Cruises previously saw two of its ships quarantined because of novel-coronavirus outbreaks. The Diamond Princess became the source of the largest outbreak outside of China during its quarantine in Japan in February, leaving eight people dead and around 700 infected. Then, last week, 21 people aboard the Grand Princess tested positive for the virus, 19 of them crew members. The ship remained in the port of Oakland, California on Thursday as state and federal health agencies evacuated passengers.
In response to the Princess cruise ship quarantine in California, on Sunday the U.S. State Department warned people, particularly those who are older or have health conditions, not to travel on cruise ships because of the increased risk of falling ill with COVID-19.
“We’ve been asked and we’ve asked ourselves why COVID-19 seems to be impacting Princess so heavily,” said Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz in a Twitter video message Thursday. “We don’t really know.”
In a similar move, Viking Cruises, a private company based in Basel, Switzerland, announced Wednesday it is halting all cruises on its 79 ships March 12 to April 30, 2020.
Princess Cruises said those who are currently onboard a cruise that will end in the next five days will finish their trips as scheduled. Trips that were originally scheduled to finish after March 17 will end earlier at a location that will be “most convenient” for passengers.
Passengers who were set to go on one of the now canceled trips will be able to transfer “100%” of their money paid to a future cruise of their choice.
Ten of Princess’ 18 ships are currently based in the U.S., including six at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Princess Cruises canceled a cruise on the Caribbean Princess ship this week citing a “shortage of labor” at Port Everglades. Three people who worked at Port Everglades for Metro Cruise Services, contracted by Princess Cruises, have tested positive for the virus.
A cook from the Philippines on board one of Princess’ ships who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the company had not heard about the pause in operations Thursday morning. He feared it could cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs. He said the captain of the ship called a meeting for Thursday evening to discuss next steps.
The company did not respond to requests for comments about how it is communicating the mass cancellations with crew and what will happen to workers during the 60-day pause.
“Our teammates are our Princess family and we are committed to the care of our team. This is an unprecedented action in the history of our company, so we do not know how everything will play out. We ask for understanding as we work through the specifics regarding compensation and other details,” a Princess Cruises spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Miami Herald.
Princess Cruises is one of nine cruise lines owned by Carnival Corporation, a Panamanian company with headquarters in Doral. Other lines include Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, and Seabourn. In total, the company operates more than 100 cruise ships.
Carnival Corporation shares closed at $14.97 per share Thursday, down more than 31%, a drop of more than $36 since Jan. 2. In 2019, the company reported a profit of $3 billion in 2019.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 9:20 AM.
