Two Cunard Queens summonsed home to Southampton

Go back to the e-newsletter

Cunard has summonsed its luxury ships, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, to return to Southampton, London from their current positions in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean, respectively. Both ships docked in Australian ports (Fremantle and Sydney) last weekend. Queen Elizabeth, which was due to operate a 10-night round-trip voyage from Sydney to New Zealand last weekend, currently remains in limbo off the coast of Wollongong, NSW. With Australia, New Zealand and Fiji shutting out international cruise ships for a month, Cunard is currently reviewing berthing options for the 2,092-passenger ship, a spokesperson for the cruise line told LATTE. The decision to halt operations for a month is Cunard’s response to recommendation made by the Cruise Line International Association for all member cruise lines to voluntarily and temporarily suspend operations to and from the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic currently hammering the travel industry. Cunard said it will be temporarily suspending new cruises until 11 April, 2020. “Having reviewed all of our ship operations and industry recommendations, we have decided no new guests or crew will be joining our ships as we suspend operations,” said Cunard President Simon Palethorpe. “This pause in operations has been done in an abundance of caution to support the global effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.” Palethorpe continued: “These truly are unprecedented times, the likes of which we have certainly never seen before. We are really sorry for the disruption and disappointment that this extraordinary measure will cause. We hope everyone will understand that we have to take these measures in the interests of protecting the wellbeing of our guests and crew.” All guests impacted directly by the suspension are being contacted regarding their voyage and their options.

---

Want to be in the luxury cruise know? Subscribe to our free eNewsletter here to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.

Go back to the e-newsletter