POINTE BLANCHE:--- Port St. Maarten Management on Thursday afternoon was officially informed that Princess Cruises has voluntarily paused its operations of vessels for a period of 60-days due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Princess Cruises vessels Regal Princess, Sky Princess, and Caribbean Princess will discontinue port calls to St. Maarten as of March 19 until May 20.
The decision by Princess Cruises is to reassure the cruise lines loyal guests, team members and global stakeholders of their commitment to the health and safety and well-being of all who sails onboard the vessels, as well as those who do business with them, and the countries and communities they visit around the world.
Princess Cruises carries approximately 50,000 passengers daily, from 70 countries.
The cruise line is part of a family of companies owned by Carnival Corporation, which also includes Holland America Line, Cunard Line, among others.
Port St. Maarten Management expects that other cruise lines may adapt their cruise itineraries in the coming days and weeks due to the evolving COVID-19 situation that is changing on a daily basis.
“All cruise tourism stakeholders should prepare contingency plans for the coming two-months. We fully understand the measure that has been taken by the cruise line due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, and we continue to communicate with our cruise line partners regularly with respect to current developments also taking into account the significance of cruise tourism to our national economy,” Port St. Maarten Management said on Thursday.
