P&O Cruises has announced the cancellation of cruises aboard the ARCADIA, extending to June 23rd due to the limited availability of crew members. P&O Cruises has stated that the extraordinary impact of Covid 19 in the UK and on the broader hospitality, service, and airline industries has led to a disruption in the availability of crew members. The passengers are reporting that they are being offered the option of either being paid their money back or having future cruise credit of a greater value.
The vessel had recently restarted its services on March 27th. It went on a 16-day round trip from Southampton to the Canary Islands and returned to Southampton on April 12th. The seven scheduled future cruises up to June 23rd have been canceled. The passengers were especially irked because of the short cancellation notice. Some passengers reported having waited for 2 years for the cruise, which was canceled at the last moment. Given the rising demand for cruises after the resumption, there is little hope to find a booking on short notice.
The cruise liners are working hard to recruit and train new crew members, given that they had repatriated most of the crew in the early days of the pandemic.
