Seabourn has announced that it will extend the voluntary pause of global operations for its five cruise ships into October and November 2020.

The pause will apply to each of Seabourn’s five ships differently with each having a different “effective through” date in either October or November.

Details include:

• Seabourn Odyssey: paused through the Europe season, with its operations pause effective through 20 November.
• Seabourn Sojourn: paused through Alaska/British Columbia season, with its operations pause effective through 13 October.
• Seabourn Quest: paused through the Canada/New England season, with its operations pause effective through 6 November.
• Seabourn Encore: paused through the Europe season, with its operations pause effective through 19 October.
• Seabourn Ovation: paused through Europe season, with its operations pause effective through 6 November.

Seabourn had previously announced a pause in its global ship operations from 14 March to 30 June 2020.

The cruise line’s decision to cancel additional voyages is “a proactive response to the unpredictable circumstances continuing to evolve from the global response to the Covid-19 situation”.

President of Seabourn, Rick Meadows, said: “We know travellers, as well as our past guests, are thinking about and looking forward to travelling based on a lot of information we are seeing lately.

“With many cruise ports still closed, destinations opening in phases and airline capacity limited, a continuation of our pause gives us additional time to prepare for our eventual return to service.”

“When we resume and social gathering is acceptable once again, we will do so with the health and safety of our guests, crew and the people in each of the destinations we visit as a priority, just as it has been throughout our history.”

Seabourn will be communicating changes with all booked guests and their travel advisors.

Guests with impacted cruises will automatically be cancelled, and all guests will receive a Future Cruise Credit as follows:

• Paid in Full: those guests paid in full will receive 125 per cent Future Cruise Credit of the base cruise fare paid to Seabourn.
• Under Deposit: those guests with bookings under deposit will receive a Future Cruise Credit valued at 125 per cent of the deposit amount paid, plus an onboard credit of $300 per suite.

The Future Cruise Credit is valid for 12 months from the date of issue and may be used to book sailings departing through 31 December 2022.

The amount of non-cruise fare purchases may be transferred to a new booking to be used in any manner selected by the guest. Alternatively, guests may request a refund of the monies paid to Seabourn, which will be reimbursed to the original form of payment.

Guests and their travel advisors will be sent specific details applicable to their booking. Seabourn asks guests and travel advisors to use the online resources available on its website first rather than calling the Reservation Call Centre for information.

Holland America Line has also decided to extend its pause of global cruise operations and cancel all Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England cruises for 2020.

In addition, Amsterdam will not operate the 79-day Grand Africa Voyage from Boston, Massachusetts, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that was scheduled to depart on 3 October 2020. 

Visit seabourn.com for more information.