Carnival’s Princess Cruises to extend some voyage suspensions until December

(Reuters) – Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises said on Wednesday it would extend the suspension of select voyages through Dec. 15 as it looks to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Princess Cruises also said all cruises sailing in and out of Australia on select vessels have been suspended through Oct. 31.

The pandemic has forced cruise companies to raise billions in debt to stay afloat, after several ships, including some owned by Carnival’s Princess Cruises, became coronavirus hotspots.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday extended its no-sail order for all cruise ships through September end, taking the number of days cruise operators will have paused operations to 200.

However, another Carnival unit, Germany-based AIDA Cruises, said earlier this month it would resume sailing operations in August, introducing a variety of coronavirus preventive measures to complement existing health and hygiene standards.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)