NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line revealed it will be cancelling all itineraries in Australia and New Zealand planned for 2020. NCL, which deployed Norwegian Jewel to Australia back in 2017, has been a quite popular fly-cruise choice for Americans. The company also announced it would deploy Norwegian Spirit to the region, but that too had been cancelled.
Around 80% of the Australia-New Zealand itineraries on the ships Jewel and Spirit consisted of international tourists and the cancellations might be the result of Australia’s travel ban extension. NCL Jewel ship cruises between September 25 (2020) and February 27 (2021) are now all cancelled. According to an NCL spokesperson, this is a result of fleet redeployment changes.
Booked customers on the affected voyages receive a 110% FCC (future cruise credit) or full refund plus 10% of the fare paid. The FCC can be used for up to 1 year (from June 9, 2020) and applied towards any currently published sailings between January 1, 2021-December 31, 2022.
The recently refurbished NCL Spirit ship is planned for deployment in Australia and New Zealand (season 2021-2022) and to be joined by Norwegian Sun in Asia (season 2021).