CUNARD Extends Suspension of Services Through July 31, 2020 and Beyond

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We received the following email from Cunard Lines this morning announcing a further extension in suspension of services:

We are extending our pause in operations.

We hope this email finds you and your loved ones well in these unsettling times.

Since we originally announced our pause in operations, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation has evolved further still. Many governments around the world have implemented increasingly strict and decisive measures to ensure the safety of their citizens.

Expanding travel restrictions, extended closures of ports and limited air travel have continued to impact us and the travel industry as a whole. We anticipate that this will continue, for some time to come.

We are therefore further extending our pause in operations for all sailings on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria departing up to and including July 31, 2020. For Queen Elizabeth, maintaining a shorter summer season in Alaska would unfortunately not have made these voyages viable, so we are taking the practical decision to cancel her entire Alaska season and all departures up to and including September 8, 2020.

We will continue to monitor government guidelines and travel restrictions around the world, and this may mean there are further changes to the timing of when each of our ships returns to service. They will only do so when we are sure we can deliver the Cunard vacation our guests expect and deserve.

Guest’s bookings will be canceled and guests will automatically receive a 125% Future Cruise Credit. This will be applied to their account in the coming weeks and can be used for any new sailing up to March 31, 2022 that is booked before December 31, 2021.

If guests already have an existing booking, they can use their FCC for a second stateroom to bring friends or family with them. Alternatively guests can use their FCC to upgrade their stateroom.

If these options are not suitable for guests then they may obtain a 100% cash refund by filling out the form on our website. This is easy to do and means you do not need to call our customer service center. Guests will need to provide their booking reference on the form. Due to the extraordinary circumstances associated with COVID-19 and the impact on our customer service center team and wider business, refunds may take up to 60 days to be processed.

If guests have pre-purchased shore experiences, dining, drinks packages or gifts for their vacation, they will receive this as an onboard credit to the value of 110% of their purchase, for use on a future voyage. 

We understand the disappointment this news may cause, however with the global restrictions currently in place, it is simply not feasible for our ships to sail at this time.

You may have a lot of questions and we are doing our absolute best to ensure we keep you updated regularly. As you can appreciate we are experiencing an unprecedented volume of calls at this time. Please bear with us and visit our social media channels for the latest information, rather than calling our customer service center.

We have been sailing for 180 years and when the time is right to welcome our guests back on board, we look forward to many more.

In the meantime, please take the very best of care and stay safe and well.

Don Korta
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