Egypt has denied entry to a Virgin Voyages cruise ship carrying around 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers, forcing another last-minute itinerary change just days after Turkiye blocked the same sailing.
The Scarlet Lady, on a 10-day ‘Athens to Venice’ sailing chartered by US operator Atlantis Events, was due to call at Alexandria on 9 July but was refused permission to enter Egyptian waters.
All shore excursions in Alexandria were cancelled and refunded.
The move follows an earlier decision by Turkish authorities to block the ship from calling at Kuşadası and Istanbul, prompting an itinerary change mid-voyage.
In a letter to guests, Atlantis Events President Rich Campbell expressed his ‘tremendous disappointment’.
He said the decision came as a ‘surprise’, noting the company had successfully operated the same itinerary in 2025.
The Egyptian decision comes two days after officials in Turkiye’s Aydin province blocked the visit, citing concerns the group did not align with the ‘moral values’ and ‘structure of [our] society’. They claimed the ship had ‘sparked significant public concern’.
When Turkiye blocked the planned calls, the line arranged alternative ports including Crete and Cairo.
Egypt’s refusal has now forced a further change, with Cairo dropped and the ship set to call at Chania, Crete on 10 July.
The ship departed Greece on 5 July, with an itinerary including Mykonos and Santorini.
Later calls including Kotor, Montenegro and Dubrovnik and Zadar, Croatia are still expected to go ahead as planned before its scheduled end in Trieste, Italy.
