Decision to stop ships until May comes after government told older people not to sail

Saga, the travel and insurance company for the over-50s, has cancelled all cruises until May in response to the growing coronavirus threat.

Announcing the move, Saga said its decision was sparked by the government’s latest travel advice, which states that people over 70 and those with pre-existing health conditions should avoid cruises after a number of ships around the world were locked down because of Covid-19 outbreaks onboard.

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Saga said it would temporarily suspend its cruises for six weeks until 1 May and would be offering customers a full refund or credit for future sailings. It said that the move would result in a £10m-£15m loss in pre-tax profit for its cruise business and that it would take additional action – including cost-cutting – if necessary.

“The health and safety of customers and colleagues is our number one priority. We have, therefore, made the decision to temporarily suspend operations of our cruises until 1 May 2020. Our customer service teams will be in contact with cruise customers who were due to travel in the next six weeks to offer them either a full refund or a credit for a future departure.”

It added: “There are a range of further mitigating actions the group will take, including additional cost efficiencies and reducing discretionary spend.”

Saga said it was not expecting its insurance business to take a significant hit from the outbreak, with the company adding that the division had a “good start to the financial year”.

The news comes a day after the world’s largest cruise operator, Carnival, took similar steps by halting journeys on all ships in its Princess Cruises line for two months because of the spread of coronavirus.

One of its vessels, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks off the coast of Japan, with 3,000 passengers and crew onboard, as it became a floating breeding ground for the virus, resulting in at least seven deaths. Shortly afterwards, the Grand Princess ship was held off California after it was linked to the death of a US man who had previously travelled onboard.