News - 13 March 2020 15:09

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines voluntarily pauses departures until 23rd May 2020

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has taken the difficult decision to pause our cruise operations for a period of time, as many other cruise operators have done. This is in light of the recent announcement from the UK Government, which advises those aged over 70, or with underlying health issues, not to take cruise holidays.

Along with many other cruise and travel companies, we are facing challenging and unprecedented times in our industry as a result of the ongoing global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

As more ports across the world close to cruise ships, it is becoming more challenging for us to offer our guests the holiday experience that we promised them.

The current outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus is also making it increasingly difficult to be able to guarantee the safety of our guests and crew, which is always at the forefront of everything we do.

Our priority now is to get all existing guests and crew home as safely and comfortably as possible. Any subsequent itineraries will not go ahead once the current cruises have come to an end.

It is our intention to resume our cruises on 23^rd May 2020.

We will be contacting every guest personally to explain the situation and discuss their options. We are offering a full refund or a voucher which can be used to buy any future cruise costing up to 125 per cent of the original fare.

For the time being our river ship Brabant is not affected by the pause in operations and our season will commence as planned on 6^th April 2020.

We are advising anyone with concerns to send us a direct message or to call our Guest Services team on 0800 0355 145.

For regular media updates, please visit:

Media Centre: http://media.fredolsencruises.com/latest_news

Twitter: @FOCLMedia: https://twitter.com/FOCLMedia @FredOlsenCruises

https://twitter.com/FredOlsenCruise

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fredolsencruiselines

For any media enquiries, please contact rachael.jackson@fredolsen.co.uk / + 44 (0)7917 323238 or ellis.barker@fredolsen.co.uk / +44 (0)7557 672265

Topics

Regions

England

Contacts

Georgina May

Press contact Public Relations Executive Public Relations georgina.may@fredolsen.co.uk

Lauren Gardner

Press contact Public Relations Manager Public Relations lauren.gardner@fredolsen.co.uk 07546807099

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines

At Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines we are very proud of our smaller ships – Bolette, Borealis and Balmoral - and the imaginative and unusual itineraries they allow us to offer. Every cruise is hand-crafted from scratch by our team of in-house Journey Planners to make sure you are not only visiting the best destinations, but at the best time to experience them.

For us, it’s not just about where we go but how we take you there. We put as much time into planning scenic cruising as we do in choosing the destinations themselves. On board, our Signature Experiences showcase the history, culture, nature and flavours of the destinations you’ll visit – from Treats of the Region, where you can enjoy local delicacies, to our Sky at Sea star-gazing sessions where you can relax with a hot toddy out on deck while our astronomer talks you through the night sky.

Plus, with each ship carrying 1,300 guests or less, our ships are small enough for us to offer a warm, friendly and personal service where nothing is ever too much trouble, as we visit a host of exciting ports in every corner of the globe.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines