Norwegian Cruise Line cancels its 2020/21 Australia and New Zealand season

Norwegian Cruise Line has revealed it will be cancelling all sailings in Australia and New Zealand until 2021.

The line, which deployed the Norwegian Jewel to homeport in Australia in 2017, has been a popular fly-cruise choice for Americans. The line also announced it would be deploying the Norwegian Spirit to sail the region, but that too has been cancelled. Around 80 per cent of the Jewel and Spirit’s Australian and New Zealand itineraries consisted of international guests and the decision to cancel sailings this year, may be the effect of Australia’s travel ban. Sailings between 25 September and February 27 will not take place. A spokesperson from Norwegian Cruise Line said: “As a result of changes to the redeployment of our fleet, all Norwegian Jewel sailings from Sept. 25, 2020 through Feb. 27, 2021 have been cancelled. Guests booked on these sailings will receive a full refund as well as a future cruise credit worth 10% of the fare paid. The credit can be used for up to one year from June 9, 2020 and can be applied towards any currently published sailings between January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022. “As you likely know, we recently announced that the refurbished Norwegian Spirit will be sailing Australia and New Zealand for the 2021/2022 season, and she will be joined by Norwegian Sun in Asia in 2021. These deployments reconfirm our long-term commitment to the Asia Pacific region.  We greatly appreciate the patience and understanding of our guests as we continue to navigate through this extraordinary situation and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience.”