With COVID-19 once again on the rise across the United States due to the omicron variant, two major cruise lines announced cancellations Wednesday.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. canceled the Spectrum of the Seas cruise originally set for January 6 following the revelation that their January 2 cruise came into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID in Hong Kong.
While the cruisegoers who experienced the close contact have all tested negative, everyone on board must take a second test on January 8, and the ship has returned to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has made a similar decision to cancel their upcoming journey, citing America’s explosion in COVID cases. The U.S. reported the highest number of new diagnoses of any country on the globe on Monday.
“Due to ongoing travel restrictions, we’ve had to modify a few sailings and unfortunately have had to cancel,” the company said, cancelling embarkation dates as distant as late April.
The 17-ship operator will give anyone who had booked a canceled trip full refunds and bonus credits for future bookings.
Those cancellations also fall in line with guidance from the CDC, which advised last week that people should avoid cruises. The agency is investigating COVID cases aboard more than 90 ships.
Carnival Corp meanwhile has yet to cancel any upcoming dates for their cruise line.
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