MIAMI — Cunard is extending its pause in operations by several more months as many destinations around the world continue to enforce travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

For its ships Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, Cunard is cancelling all sailings that were due to depart up to and including Nov. 1, 2020 (previously July 31). For Queen Elizabeth, departures up to and including Nov. 23 (previously Sept. 8) have been cancelled.

According to Cunard President, Simon Palethorpe, the cruise line is working “at the highest level possible” with government bodies such as the CDC and CLIA to review every aspect of cruising in the new normal.

“With many differing restrictions across countries, people’s ability to move freely and safely across borders remains seemingly some way in the distance,” he said. “For Cunard, where we celebrate having a truly international mix of guests and sail all over the world, this becomes particularly impactful.

“We also need to better understand the implications COVID-19 will have onboard our ships. Whilst we have always taken pride in having the highest levels of health and safety, we are looking at enhanced protocols across all aspects of ship life and experiences on shore. We will only return to service when we have a comprehensive restart protocol with the stamps of approval and accreditation from the most trusted and informed sources.”

Cunard will be reaching out to all guests and their travel agents who are booked on affected voyages.

Guests who are booked on cancelled voyages will automatically be given a 125% future cruise credit, which can be redeemed against any new booking made by the end of December 2021 on any voyage that’s on sale at the time of booking.

For more updates from other cruise lines go to https://www.travelweek.ca/news/when-will-cruise-lines-return-to-service-here-are-all-the-latest-updates/.