Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The International Association of Cruise Lines has announced the suspension of operations until September 15 of this year. The association says that the decision was made to prolong cruise ship cruises due to the continuing spread of the Covid-19 in the U.S.
The news will hit the industry hard including Cozumel and Mahahual who rely heavily on cruise ship tourism. Companies such as Carnival Caribbean, Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruises are among those association members who will continue suspending cruises of more than 250 passengers until at least September. These three cruise companies make up more than 90 percent of the ships that arrive in the state of Quintana Roo.
“Due to the current situation in the United States related to Covid-19, the CLIA member cruise lines have decided to voluntarily extend the period of operations (… ) Although we hoped that cruise activity could resume as soon as possible, it is becoming increasingly clear that more time will be needed.
“We also believe that it is appropriate to err on the side of caution to help ensure the best interests of our passengers and crew members, therefore we have decided to further extend our suspension of operations from the ports of the United States until September 15,” the association announced.
In a press release, Carnival Cruise Lines said “As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we regret to inform our guests that Carnival Cruise Line is having to cancel the following sailings:
All San Francisco sailings through 2020
All Carnival Sunrise sailings through and including October 19, 2020
All Carnival Legend sailings through and including October 30, 2020
All Carnival Radiance sailings through and including November 1, 2020
All Carnival Spirit Alaska, Hawaii, & Trans-Pacific sailings through and including October 6, 2020
All Other Ships sailings through and including September 30, 2020
Royal Carribean also released a press statement saying, “Royal Caribbean Announces Global Suspension Of Cruising. CLIA has announced the voluntarily suspension of U.S. cruise operations until September 15. We will share more details about this announcement with our guests early next week.
“At Royal Caribbean International, our guests and crew’s safety and well-being are always our top priorities. After further consulting with our partners at Cruise Lines International Association and in conjunction with the CDC, we have decided to extend the suspension of sailings for our global fleet for all sailings through July 31st, 2020. Our goal is to resume operations on August 1st, 2020 for the majority of our fleet.”
The Administración Portuaria Integral de Quintana Roo (Apiqroo) had anticipated the cancellation of cruises for a month-and-a-half from the middle of March and throughout April, meaning Cozumel would not receive the nearly 120 ships carrying around 720,000 passengers. Apiqroo has not yet updated the losses for Quintana Roo, which has now been extended to six months.
