TUI cancels cruises for 2021 as major change announced for TUI ships next year

Marella Cruises is waving goodbye to cruise ship Marella Dream after a decade of sailing. The axing of the vessel from the fleet leaves the TUI cruise brand with just four ships. The change has resulted in multiple cruises being cancelled in 2021.

The ship which will now sail from Palma instead of Port Canaveral, Florida, covering the Marella Dream’s Mediterranean itineraries.

This will, in turn, impact sailings on the Discovery.

Therefore, TUI has made “the difficult decision” to cancel all USA sailings for Marella Discovery in summer 2021, the company said in a statement.

This will impact itineraries including Sunshine and Jazz, Sunshine State and Sands, American Dream, Big Apple Adventure, Floridian Adventures and East Coast Adventure.

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All impacted customers will be proactively contacted and provided with the travel options as above.

In more positive news, as a result of the ongoing travel restrictions and uncertainty surrounding future cruises, Marella Cruises is offering increased flexibility for customers with cruise bookings for winter 2020.

Customers due to depart between November 16, 2020, and March 31, 2021, can now amend for free to any TUI holiday currently on sale as long as they do this before October 31, 2020.

Chris Hackney, Managing Director of Marella Cruises, said today: “With the ongoing travel restrictions for UK cruise lines still in place, we’ve taken the difficult decision to reshape our cruise programme for the upcoming seasons.

“That means an early retirement for Marella Dream after ten years of service and the redeployment of Marella Discovery from the US to Europe.

“We appreciate the continued uncertainty surrounding travel and, to give our customers added peace of mind, we’re offering increased flexibility to amend their cruises to any TUI holiday on sale for free.

“We know our customers look forward to their holidays with us – maybe now more so than ever – so this means customers can still plan and get excited about their dream holiday at a later date.

“While the current circumstances have meant we’ve had to make changes to our programme, there’s still a range of amazing itineraries for customers to enjoy.

“We’ve been working hard to implement new health and safety measures to protect customers and crew while they’re sailing with us and we can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard soon.”

In further cruise news, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has decided to extend its “no sail” order for cruise ships.

The “no-sail” order was set to expire yesterday but this will not be the case.

The extended order will be in place until the end of October due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

The “no-sail” order means that cruise ships that can carry more than 250 passengers in US waters are suspended.

The original “no-sail” order was issued back in March when the coronavirus pandemic began to infect thousands.

source: express.co.uk