More than 15 per cent of all planned cruise ship visits to Bermuda this year have now been cancelled as cruise line operators curtail operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Carnival Cruise Line this week extended its pause on North American cruise operations until the final week of June.

The company said it has plans to resume cruises in the region on June 27, and added that it shared the global priorities of health and safety for all.

Carnival previously had six cruise ship visits scheduled for Kings Wharf, Dockyard, in the period now affected by the cancellations.

It brings the total number of cancelled cruise ship visits to Bermuda by all operators to 32. At the start of the year it was expected that 192 cruise ships would visit the island this year.

However, that number could go much higher if a 100-day “no sail order” on cruise ships in the US, imposed by the US Centres for Disease Control and dated April 9, plays out to July 17. The CDC order states that cruise ships can’t board passengers and return to their sailing schedules for 100 days, or until either the Department of Health and Human Services declares that Covid-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency, or the CDC director modifies the no sail order.

Carnival did not mention the order in its latest statement about the continuation of the pause to its North American operations. The ships that should have been visiting Bermuda, but are now affected by its own extended “pause” period are Carnival Sunrise, which carries up to 3,730 guests, and was to have made two one-day visits in late May, and a further two in mid-June, while the smaller Carnival Pride, which accommodates up to 2,680 guests, had been expected to make a three-day visit starting on June 3. In addition, the Carnival Radiance, which can carry 4,375 guests, had been due to visit Dockyard on June 27.

In a statement, the company said: “We will use this extended pause to continue to take care of the crew that remains on board and continue to bring non-essential crew home. We are actively engaged with the industry and our stakeholders on additional protocols that we will be implementing when we resume service. We are dedicated to maintaining confidence in our commitment to protecting the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve.”

The company said it was communicating directly with guests and travel agent partners and has worked to minimise the disruption by automating the process so that guests and travel agents can manage their options online.

“Our offices remain closed at the direction of local government, and while our customer contact centre team is now taking calls at home, technology limitations continue to impact productivity and our level of support. We appreciate the patience of our guests and travel advisers during this unprecedented time,” the company said.

Among other cruise lines with scheduled visits to the island — and who have yet to issue updates following the “no sail order” in the US — Bermudian-domiciled Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings Ltd has suspended all voyages embarking before May 11 as it “contributes to the global efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19”. These measures have affected 18 planned cruise ship voyages to the island by its brands Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Meanwhile, MSC Cruises has extended the halting of its cruise ship departures through to May 29. The MSC Meraviglia, which can carry 5,400 guests, had previously been due to visit Bermuda this month, while the MSC Divina cancelled a two-day visit at the end of last month.

Royal Caribbean International announced last month that it had suspended the sailings of its global fleet, with an expectation it would resume service on May 12, affecting five previously planned cruise ship voyages to Bermuda. A two-day visit by the Azamara Pursuit earlier this month was also cancelled.