NCLH-Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced on Thursday, February 20, that it would cancel all sailings in Asia across its 3 cruise brands through summer 2020 due to Coronavirus outbreaks. NCLH would temporarily remove all ships from the region.
According to company's CEO, Frank Del Rio, 40 voyages had been cancelled or modified through the end of 2020-Q3, including 24 on NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line, 10 on Oceania Cruises, and 6 on RSSC-Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
The Norwegian Spirit ship accounts for 21 of the cancelled Asia cruises. The liner will be redeployed to the eastern Mediterranean for the summer months. The ship recently underwent USD 100 million drydock refurbishment.
Del Rio added the company was making the moves out of an "abundance of caution.'' The key factors in the decision were "uncertainty surrounding port entry and berthing availability in destinations through the region" as well as consumers' reluctance to travel to Asia.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.