Princess Cruises announced it will cancel all voyages on 2670-passenger liner Diamond Princess throughout Japan and Asia between October 2021-April 2022, in favour of redeploying the ship to a new destination.
The cruise line announced the vessel will instead set sail for a maiden season in another part of the globe, though Princess did not specify where that would be. The word "maiden" implies a region not normally visited by Diamond Princess, which has spent most of her service career in Alaska and Asia.
Princess Cruises stated that details of the new sailings would be announced later in August.
The canceled voyages (out of homeport Yokohama Japan) were planned for the period October 24, 2021, through April 19, 2022.
Diamond Princess was extensively refurbished in 2014 for the Japanese market. Added features included the first-ever Japanese onsen bathing experience at sea, new dining venues, as well as contemporary Asian motifs.
She was one of the first cruise ships to be affected by the pandemic when she was quarantined off the coast of Yokohama port in February.