Disney Cruise Lines Cancels all Voyages Until June, Disney Magic Sailings Suspended Through August

Eric Todisco
·2 min read

Matt Stroshane

Disney Cruise Line will remain docked until at least June due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The cruise line announced Wednesday in an updated travel alert that all sailings have been canceled through the end of May as the company continues to "refine our protocols and await further technical guidance from the CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]."

The ships are also affected by where they depart from and visit. Disney Magic's European itineraries, for example, will remain on pause through Aug. 10, the company said. While Disney Wonder's sailing season remains up in the air due to restrictions from the Canadian government. The ships Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy will set sail on June 4 and 2, respectively.

Officials for Disney Cruise Line said that guests whose vacations are affected and travel agents will receive an email from the company outlining details and next steps regarding the cancellations.

Debbie Ann Powell/Getty Disney Magic Cruise

Also on Wednesday, Carnival Cruise Line extended its pause in operations from U.S. ports through May 31. A date for the return to cruising operations has not yet been determined, the company said in a news release.

"We continue to work on plans to resume operations and are encouraged by the focus to expedite vaccine production and distribution which are having a demonstrated impact on improving public health," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We appreciate the support of all of our guests, employees and trade partners who we know are looking forward to our return."

Norwegian Cruise Line and its sister lines Oceania and Regent Seven Seas already canceled all sailings through May last week. Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises have yet to do the same, but are expected to.

Carnival

Cruise companies halted all sailings in the Caribbean last spring as the pandemic took hold in North America, individual countries enacted stringent travel restrictions and the CDC enacted a "no-sail order."

The CDC first issued a no-sail order on March 14 that was intended to stay in place for 30 days. At the time, several cruise ships across the world had become sources of major coronavirus outbreaks and subsequent deaths, including off the coast of Japan, Panama and Oakland, California.

"Cruise ships are incubators," infectious disease expert Dr. William Haseltine previously told PEOPLE. "Everybody's close together, packed in all the time. One person gets sick, a lot of them get sick. It's a very unfavorable environment for disease transmission."