LGBTQ cruise company Atlantis Events announced on Friday that they are canceling all cruises through mid-April including one set to depart on March 21 to the Caribbean and postponing future departures until further notice.
Wrote the company: “All cruises have been cancelled through April 13 and thus our sailing on Celebrity Summit will not sail as planned March 21-28,2020. We will contact all booked guests by email with next steps regarding this cruise by Monday, March 16. Please do not contact our office until that time as we have no further information.”
“In addition, Virgin Voyages has postponed the launch of Scarlet Lady, as such our Virgin Caribbean Cruise has been postponed,” they added. “We will be sending further details to guests booked on that cruise as well. We love showing all of you a great time and look forward to many more exciting cruises in better times. Stay tuned for more and again a huge thank you to everyone out there. We truly appreciate your patience. Please stay safe and use this time wisely so we all get through this.”
Atlantis had come under fire in recent days for refusing to issue refunds for its March 25 Caribbean cruise to more than 50 customers who had requested them, NBC News reported.
The U.S. State Department issued a warning last Sunday on cruise ships: “U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship at this time. CDC notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking. In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.”
