Covid: P&O cancels cruise sailings up to April 2021

Cruises were abandoned in March due to the coronavirus pandemic

P&O will not resume cruise sailings until at least April next year.

The company ended its cruises in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic and has not resumed any of its voyages since.

The Southampton-based firm, which is part of the Carnival group, said the continued pause in operations was because of "the current uncertainty around European ports of call".

The latest round of cancellations affects 19 planned cruises.

'Unusual attraction'

P&O President Paul Ludlow said: "With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever-changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.

"In addition, as the final payments are due for these cruises very soon we felt it was the right thing to do for our guests.

"We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel but really hope they will rebook for later in the year or for our new programme of 2022 holidays which went on sale earlier this month with strong demand, showing great confidence in cruising in the future."

Cruise ships anchored off the coast of Weymouth have become an attraction

Guests with bookings on cancelled cruises will be offered credit on a future cruise or a refund.

In March, P&O Cruises brought its ships back to Southampton as the pandemic worsened.

Two months later Carnival UK said it planned to cut 450 jobs across P&O Cruises and its other cruise line, Cunard, to "ensure the future sustainability" of the business.

In July, P&O Cruises announced it was selling one of its oldest vessels, Oceana.

The sight of idle cruise ships anchored off the south coast became an unusual tourist attraction over the summer.