The LGBT+ gay cruise, with a couple of hundred Aussies on board, that made global headlines after being turned away from Türkiye has now reportedly been turned away from Egypt.
An update to passengers obtained by Travel Weekly shows Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady will not be allowed into Alexandria, after being denied entry by Egyptian authorities. The ship is now looking for a new place to berth, with Atlantis Events tour organiser said to be working to secure an alternative port.
Kyle Olsen, owner of Hermes Holidays, told Travel Weekly that a couple of hundred Australians were onboard the ship, likely to be the second-largest nationality after Americans.
Many of the passengers had already spent money on their own private excursions in Egypt wanting to see the pyramids, he said, adding that Egypt had been the “dangled carrot” after the ship was turned away from Türkiye.
In the update to passengers, received just hours ago, Atlantis Events said: “We’re incredibly disappointed to share that Scarlet Lady has just been denied entry into Egyptian waters and will no longer be able to call into Alexandria. We’re working hard to secure an alternative port.”
While the solution is still being decided, the update said it wanted customers to know the “unfortunate news”.
The ship, chartered by Atlantis Events for a 10-day “Athens to Venice” cruise carrying roughly 1,900 LGBT+ passengers – including around 1,100 Americans – had already been rerouted once after Türkiye’s rejection.
On 28 June, officials in Türkiye’s Aydın province confirmed via a statement posted on X that Scarlet Lady would not be permitted to dock in Kuşadası on 7 July, or in Istanbul the following day. The charter group was told it was “known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”, and that its planned arrival had “caused great discomfort in various segments of our society”.
Atlantis had since rerouted the ship to Cairo and Crete instead but passengers were told on the morning of the scheduled Alexandria call that Scarlet Lady had been denied entry into Egyptian waters altogether.
Speaking after the Türkiye ban, Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell revealed it was the first time in the company’s 36-year history that a country had denied it entry outright. He called the decision “stunning,” telling CNN: “The reasoning behind it is that it’s a gay group.”
Campbell noted Atlantis had chartered cruises into Istanbul and Kuşadası 13 times over the past 25 years without incident, and said calls involving the US Embassy in Türkiye had failed to reverse the ban.
Broadway performer Patti LuPone, who was booked to appear on board, said she was “furious” but would continue sailing regardless.
Members of the travel community have since reacted to the news.
Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly, Mario Paez, co-founder and managing director at Planetdwellers, a travel agency dedicated to serving LGBT+ travellers, says things have deteriorated in Türkiye since Pride was banned in Istanbul in 2015.
“It’s a little bit like Russia used to be,” he says. “You could go to St Petersburg and do gay tours and gay sailings. Once Pride got removed and not permitted, it all changed. Türkiye’s slowly going that way, unfortunately.”
Paez says the shift has been building for close to a decade rather than happening overnight, but the timing of this particular ban still caught the industry off guard, given the itinerary’s long track record.
Olsen sees the ban as part of a wider pattern worth watching.
“From our perspective, incidents like this are a reminder that while international travel has never been more accessible, LGBTQI+ travellers still need to be aware of the rise of far-right governments and movements around the world,” he says. “These political shifts can have a real impact on where our community feels safe, welcome and able to travel openly.”
‘Türkiye’s slowly going that way’: LGBT+ travel experts respond to gay cruise snub
