P&O Cruises has extended its pause in operations for cruises departing from Brisbane between 18 December 2021 and 14 January 2022, and from Sydney between 18 December and 18 January.

Princess Cruises has cancelled all voyages onboard Coral Princess through to 17 January along with Royal Princess and Sapphire Princess’s seasons through to March 2022.

P&O Cruises Australia also confirmed it was cancelling its Melbourne summer season, which was "no longer feasible to deliver". 

President of P&O Cruises Australia Sture Myrmell said: "We recognise this is disappointing for our guests who were looking forward to cruising with friends and family over Christmas and the new year. However, we wanted to make this announcement as early as possible to ensure they could plan with certainty for the holiday period."

Deanna Austin, Princess Cruises chief commercial officer, said: "It became apparent we would not be able to deliver planned deployment of Royal Princess and Sapphire Princess in Australia before they were due to start their published northern hemisphere voyages."

Guests booked on a cancelled Princess cruise can either move their booking to an equivalent cruise, receive a future cruise credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the fare paid, or a full refund to the original form of payment.

Princess will also protect travel agent commission on bookings that were paid in full.

Guests whose bookings with P&O have been affected will be notified of the pause and options available either directly or via their appointed travel agent.