Dubai: Cruise operator Royal Caribbean said Wednesday that is had cancelled a scheduled cruise trip of its new ship Celebrity Eclipse to help 2,000 stranded British and Irish holidaymakers to return from Spain.
The ship is expected to arrive in Bilbao early Thursday to pick up the passengers and return to Southampton on Friday.
“The events affecting air travel are completely unprecedented, and it is in times like these that the global travel industry needs to pull together,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman of Celebrity Cruises and chairman and CEO of its parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Celebrity Cruises said is working with major UK tour operators to try to assist with their challenge to repatriate as many of their customers as possible.
Plans for Celebrity Eclipse remain fluid as the situation regarding reopening air space continues to change, it said. Celebrity Cruises will continue to make updates as circumstances evolve.
Over the last couple of days the extraordinary closure of the UK, Irish and northern European airports affected around 6 per cent of guests trying to join a Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International or Azamara Club Cruises vessel globally.
This includes both those trying to complete return travel at the end of a cruise, or journeys to a ship to embark on a cruise.
Guests booked on a fly or cruise package directly with Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International or Azamara Club Cruises, who were unable to join their sailing, are being offered alternative travel arrangements to join the ship mid-cruise, if possible, the company added.
Royal Caribbean is also on of the major cruise operators active in the Arabian Gulf and is using Dubai’s new cruise terminal as a major hub.
