Princess Cruises committed to Asia but Japan restart is delayed

'Our focus continues to be getting the entire Princess fleet back up into service in markets that are open, but that market is still not open. So when that market opens, we're going to work to get Diamond Princess back there and operational as soon as possible,' he said in a media briefing.

'We love that market'

The delay 'isn't indicative of our commitment to that market,' Padgett added. 'We love that market and look forward to getting Diamond Princess back.'

Elsewhere in Asia, Royal Caribbean International and Dream Cruises have been operating from Singapore and Hong Kong for awhile (though Hong Kong cruising is currently paused as part of wider restrictions to contain the Omicron variant).

Seatrade Cruise News asked Padgett about resuming in those places and his thoughts on China.

'We intend to remain a world cruise line'

'Princess is a world cruise line. We intend to remain a world cruise line and service all of these markets around the world,' he said. 'Unfortunately, at this point in time there really is not a world market for cruising; there's more of a regional market for cruising. So whether we're talking about China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Australia, our intention is to service all those markets again as soon as they're available to be serviced.'