P&O Cruises cancels winter Caribbean cruises - when are P&O Cruises resuming sailing?

P&O Cruises' Caribbean sailings onboard cruise ship Britannia have been axed.

The cruise line has cancelled all seven and fourteen night Britannia fly-cruises which start or end in St Lucia between October 2021 until March 2022.

P&O said this was due "to a lack of availability of charter aircraft on Caribbean routes."

St Lucia will also no longer be a turnaround port for boarding or disembarking guests.

This is due to COVID-19 protocols, said P&O Cruises. The line detailed: "We are not permitted to allow guests on board who have taken scheduled flights to St Lucia."

However, it should be noted that Caribbean fly-cruise holidays starting and ending in Barbados are still going ahead as planned.

- READ MORE: Caribbean cruises among top bucket list experiences for Brits -

Several other itineraries have had to be cancelled by the beloved cruise company.

Cruises on Ventura are suspended until October 3, 2021, cruises on Azura are paused up until December 10, 2021, cruises on Arcadia are axed up until March 27, 2022, and cruises on Aurora are cancelled up until April 13, 2022.

Both Britannia and Iona are sailing the UK this summer. Britannia has already begun operating, with Iona due to set sail on August 7.

Both ships will go on to sail around Europe from late September.

- READ MORE: Complete list of major cruise lines' start dates -

P&O Cruises said: "Following their UK summer staycations, Britannia will begin her planned western Mediterranean itineraries on September 25, 2021, and Iona will start her holidays from the same date, beginning with an exploration of Spain and Portugal."

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow commented: “We are very much looking forward to getting Britannia and Iona back to sea for the series of UK coastal cruises – staycations at their best – which are certainly proving very popular and then beginning our international re-start as we phase in each of the other ships."

He continued: “As we know, the UK Government has developed a traffic light system for holidays abroad this summer.

"The current situation means that whilst unfortunately there will be a number of cancellations of itineraries on some ships, we are looking ahead and planning for the future with vigour.

- READ MORE: Guide to England's traffic light system and entry requirements -

“We are confident that destinations will soon open up their borders both for UK travellers and also for cruise ships.

"Spain and its islands and the Caribbean are both looking very positive and we are seeing, one by one, countries publicly looking forward to welcoming us back.”

Yesterday, P&O announced the building of its second Excel class ship Arvia, had started at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Warnemunde, Germany.

The first component of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered ship, the floating engine room unit (FERU), has been moved into the shed at the Meyer Werft shipyard where Arvia will be constructed.

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Made by Neptun Werft the FERU, with Arvia's engines and LNG tanks within it, is 140m long, 42m wide and weighs approximately 12,000 tons.

The new vessel is due to arrive December 2022 and will feature Altitude Skywalk, a unique high ropes experience, and offer a maiden season of Caribbean fly/cruise holidays, from homeport Barbados.