Diamond Princess and Island Princess ships paused thru 2022 April

   August 26, 2021 ,   Cruise Industry

Princess Cruises announced it is pushing back the return of 2 ships to sea amid the COVID crisis and canceling a number of scheduled sailings.

On Wednesday, August 25, the company announced that Diamond Princess would return to Asia (Japan deployment) in Spring 2022. This is the same liner that was quarantined off Yokohama Japan, at the beginning of the crisis, following a COVID outbreak/CruiseMinus that led to 712 infections and 14 deaths.

Diamond Princess' 2021-2022 South America and Antarctica program (Dec 1 thru April 5) have been canceled.

Two December sailings planned for Island Princess have also been canceled. That vessel restarts in spring 2022 with a Caribbean deployment before a 14-day Panama Canal voyage (Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles) on April 27th.  Island Princess' World Cruise 2022 (112-day roundtrip from Los Angeles) was canceled.

Diamond Princess cruise ship

Princess guests whose cruises are canceled have a number of options. They can get a full refund, accept FCC (future cruise credit) or book a future trip at the same price as their fare. They must fill out a claim form by September 30 or the cruise company will automatically move them to a replacement sailing.

8 other Princess ships are scheduled to have returned to sea by the time Diamond Princess and Island Princess restart.