A number of passengers on board the LGBT+ cruise turned away by Türkiye and Egypt, operated by Atlantis Events, have taken to social media to express their shock at the update.
The Virgin Voyages ship, with a couple of hundred Aussies on board, made global headlines after being turned away from Türkiye due to “moral” reasons.
Yesterday Travel Weekly reported that the ship had also been turned away from Egypt. Egypt has not given reasons for turning the ship away.
EXCLUSIVE: LGBT+ cruise ship with couple of hundred Aussies onboard now denied entry to Egypt
The ship has around 2,000 passengers. Following the Türkiye cancellation, 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.
Passengers on board the ship have taken to social media to express their shock.
Comedian Zach Noe Towers, on board the ship as part of its entertainment lineup, joked in a video posted to Instagram: “I’m on board the gay cruise ship that was denied access to Türkiye, and it’s like so what who cares, if you want a great hair transplant go South Korea.”
“So we redirect, we’re going to Egypt instead,” he continued, expressing excitement about seeing the Pyramids.
Towers then showed the note slipped under his door, revealing that the ship had also been denied access to Egypt.
“It’s the whole gay experience having fun in the face of adversity, but it’s like, we are too gay to come spend a bunch of money in your country?”
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Towers was not the only passenger to express shock. LGBTQ blogger Randy Slovacek was also on the cruise.
“It’s worth noting no official reason was provided by the powers that be in Egypt,” he said on his blog, after revealing he had received the note. “I can only guess the recent headlines about our kerfuffle in Turkey have had a ripple effect to leaders in Egypt.
“Trust and believe, me and my fellow passengers will be fine. As my fellow blogger Joe Jervis once wrote: ‘They wish we were invisible. We’re not. Let’s dance.’
“I’m off to grab an Aperol Spritz and a lounge chair on the pool deck. #Forward”
Broadway performer Patti LuPone, who was booked to appear on board, said she was “furious” but would continue sailing regardless.
Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly following the Türkiye ban, 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.
Kyle Olsen, owner of Hermes Holidays, 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
