Marella Cruises has cancelled the next sailing on its ship, Marella Discovery, which had been due to sail out of Barbados this weekend.

Guests due to join the ship on Sunday 23 January have posted on social media to say they were told on Wednesday afternoon the sailing will not now go ahead.

It is the fourth sailing in a row to be cancelled, with Discovery’s 2, 9 and 16 January cruises all pulled.

Guests on the 2 January cruise boarded the ship but were told it would not be operating after routine tests confirmed positive COVID cases.

Since then, Barbados has said it is no longer allowing people with positive tests to disembark and stay in quarantine hotels.

Disappointed guests had hoped the 23 January sailing was going ahead.

One customer said they had received his e-ticket hours before he was notified the cruise was cancelled. Another received details of rearranged excursions and boarding passes shortly before being notified the cruise was not going ahead.

On Monday this week, Travel Gossip reported sister ship Marella Discovery 2’s  Mediterranean itinerary has been pushed back until 5 April.

Its sailings out of Palma, Majorca on 15, 22 and 29 March have been cancelled.

A spokeswoman for TUI/Marella Cruises said: “We can confirm that as a result of local changes in Barbados, we have unfortunately had to cancel Marella Discovery’s upcoming sailing on 23 January.

“All impacted customers have been contacted to discuss their options including changing their holiday to an alternative date or receiving a full refund.”