Norwegian Cruise Line announced Friday that it will keep its global operations suspended through June 30 as the coronavirus shutdown keeps the cruise industry sidelined.
Norwegian, which also owns Oceana and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, had previously suspended all voyages through May 10.
The company's new target date for return is now July 1.
Shuttered since mid-March, all the major cruise lines have had to continuously revise their timelines for return to the seas due to the ongoing health crisis.
Just last week Royal Caribbean cruises also announced that it will keep its global operations suspended until June 12, the third time the company voluntarily cut upcoming services.
Carnival Cruise Line has also announced on Friday its plan to keep sailings by its subsidiaries — Cunard and P&O Cruises — suspended through July 31. Ships in those fleets include the the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeth. Carnival's main arm was already shut down through June 26.
In mid-March, at President Donald Trump’s urging, all three major cruise lines voluntarily agreed to suspend services for 30 days, without any specific order from the CDC to do so.
A mandatory no-sail order implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta earlier this month threatens to keep Norwegian, Carnival and Royal Caribbean off U.S. territorial waters until perhaps July, which would allow time for the industry to implement new safety measures on board its ships
Some reports have said the new guidelines would likely the companies closer to economic collapse because of the considerable time it would take to implement.
With no other sources of revenue, financial reserves drained and no help from the $2 trillion economic stimulus, cruise lines appear to be in more serious trouble than any other industry touched by the crisis.
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