Start of B.C. cruise ship season delayed by cancellation of first vessel
B.C. tourism businesses anxiously awaiting the return of cruise ship season will have to wait a little bit longer.
The first cruise ship scheduled to dock in Victoria since 2019 has cancelled its visit, meaning the first arrival in the city will happen on April 9, rather than April 6.
The vessel that was expected to have the distinction - Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess - is instead preparing for an extended dry dock in Portland, Ore.
In a statement, the cruise line said it had made the "difficult decision" to cancel the San Francisco to Vancouver portion of the trip "to allow added time to prepare" for the dry dock.
"This additional time will help assure the vessel is up to our highest standards in advance of the upcoming busy summer season," the company said.
Princess Cruises' statement did not address the COVID-19 situation aboard the ship, which is currently listed as "orange status" on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control website.
"Orange status" means there are confirmed COVID-19 cases aboard the vessel, and they meet the threshold for CDC investigation, which is that at least 0.3 per cent of passengers and crew aboard the ship have tested positive.
The Caribbean Princess was scheduled to stop in Astoria, Ore. and Victoria before concluding its voyage in Vancouver. The four-day sailing has now been cancelled, and the company says it is booking air and hotel accommodations for guests who were continuing their trip that originated in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"Princess also knows the cancellation is extremely disappointing and is making it right for the 1,600 guests who were to sail with us on this voyage with a full refund of the cruise fare and a 100 per cent future cruise credit equal to the cruise fare paid on this voyage," the company said.
With the Caribbean Princess no longer stopping in Victoria this week, the first cruise ship of the season is now scheduled to be Holland America's Koningsdam, which is scheduled to arrive on April 9.
Caribbean Princess was also scheduled to be Vancouver's first vessel of the season. Koningsdam is scheduled to arrive in there on April 10.
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