Holland America Line announced on Friday that as it prepares and develops its plans to meet the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the company is extending its pause of cruise operations for all departures through March 31, 2021.

The line also will cancel select longer voyages, and cruises of eight days or longer that call in the United States until Nov. 1, 2021, according to a statement. 

Cruises impacted by this pause in operation are:

• All cruise departures from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2021.
• Cruises of eight days or more that call at a U.S. port through Nov. 1, 2021. 
• Select longer voyages in Asia, Australia/New Zealand and South America through mid-April 2021. Some departures will be rescheduled to comparable dates in 2022.
  Guests and their travel agents are being notified of the cancellations and options for Future Cruise Credits and rebooking.
• Guests booked on several longer voyages to South America aboard Westerdam, Asia aboard Noordam and Australia/New Zealand aboard Oosterdam will be rebooked to similar dates and itineraries in 2022. Those booked on the Voyage of the Vikings cruise, scheduled to depart July 9, 2021, aboard Zaandam, will move to a similar date in 2022.

Of note, the company said it  has begun to prepare ships and implement procedures to meet all requirements for approval to sail following the pause. 

Guests with impacted cruises canceled through March 31 automatically will be canceled, and no action is needed when opting for the Future Cruise Credit (FCC). All guests will receive an FCC per person as follows:

• Paid in Full: Those who have paid in full will receive 125% FCC of the base cruise fare paid to Holland America Line.
• Not Paid in Full: Those with bookings not paid in full will receive an FCC of double the amount of their deposit. The minimum FCC is $100 and the maximum will be an amount up to the base cruise fare paid.