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Thirty more cruise ship visits cancelled

Visits cancelled: Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line have extended the suspension of their cruise ship sailings until August (File photograph by Akil Simmons)

Another 30 cruise ship calls have been cancelled by two cruise lines after they extended a halt to operations until August 1.The grim news from Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean brought the total of cancelled trips to the island to at least 96 — half of the 192 cruises to Bermuda scheduled for this year before the coronavirus crisis hit.Bermuda will miss out on about $87 million that would have been injected into the economy as a result of the cancellations, including $23.1 million in government revenue from cruise ship passenger tax and transport infrastructure tax.The figures were calculated on the projected loss of just over 287,000 cruise visitors, which is the expected average passenger numbers from the cancelled ships listed in the 2020 schedule and from the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s 2019 estimated average spend on island of $224 per passenger.Royal Caribbean, which operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises had halted cruise voyages until June 10, but has now extended that period until July 31.The company said it took the decision after consultation with Cruise Lines International Association and in conjunction with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.The cruise line said its goal was to resume operations on August 1. RCI’s China sailings have been suspended until June 30.Norwegian has also extended a pause in its cruise operations to the end of July.The company, which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, said: “With Covid-19 continuing to impact communities and ports around the globe, we have extended our voluntary temporary suspension of voyages.Carnival Corporation, which operates Carnival Cruise Line, earlier this month extended its ban on voyages to August 31, with a few exceptions.