The line has cancelled 19 itineraries from 6 March to 22 April 2021 due to take place onboard Iona, Britannia, Azura, Ventura, Arcadia and Aurora.

President Paul Ludlow said: “With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever-changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.”

Ludlow added that as final payments for the sailings were soon due, P&O felt cancelling now “was the right thing to do for our guests”.

“We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel but really hope they will rebook for later in the year or for our new programme of 2022 holidays which went on sale earlier this month with strong demand, showing great confidence in cruising in the future,” he said.

All guests with bookings on a cancelled cruise will be notified and automatically receive a 125% future cruise credit or alternatively, a 100% refund by filling out a form online.