An LGBTQ+ cruise ship blocked from Turkish waters this week has been refused entry into Egypt.
The Scarlet Lady’s 2,000 passengers, including the Broadway performer Patti LuPone, woke on Thursday morning to find a note placed under their cabin doors informing them that the ship was urgently looking for alternative ports.
“Early this morning, we were informed that Scarlet Lady has been denied entry into Egyptian waters, and, as a result, will no longer be able to call in Alexandria today,” Rich Campbell, the chief executive of Atlantis Events, the tour group that chartered the Virgin Voyages ship, told passengers.
“I know how much this visit meant to so many of you. We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year without issue. So we were surprised by this unfortunate decision,” he wrote.
The note concluded: “Please know that both the Atlantis and Virgin Voyages teams worked tirelessly to make this call in Alexandria a possibility. This news came as a surprise to all of us, and we’re just as disappointed as you are.”
The visit to Egypt was already a change to the planned tour, hastily arranged after the ship was refused entry to Turkey. No official reason has yet been given for the decision of the Egyptian government.
The 10-day Athens to Venice cruise was blocked from Turkey after authorities published a statement online saying the cruise was chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”.
The ship’s arrival had been cancelled after it “sparked significant public concern”, they added. “There is absolutely no possibility of the group in question visiting our province for an event of this nature.”
Randy Slovacek, who is on the cruise, wrote on his blog: “In the company’s 36-year history, Atlantis had never had a ship denied entry to dock. And now it’s happened in two countries in one week.
“Trust and believe, me and my fellow passengers will be fine: if they don’t want our tourism, we will sparkle and spend elsewhere. As my fellow blogger Joe Jervis once wrote: ‘They wish we were invisible. We’re not. Let’s dance.’”
Kyle Olsen, the owner of Hermes Holidays, another LGBTQ+ tour company, said he believed that if Turkey had not refused entry to the ship this week, Egypt would not have issued its ban. “I worry that other countries are going to be emboldened in turn to ban gay cruises from their ports as well,” he said.
“This is a sad representation of the way the world is going. Successive governments are falling to rightwing groups and the rights of LGBT+ people are being taken away as a result across the globe.”
Olsen said that after the actions of Turkey and Egypt, he would not be recommending the countries to his customers. “But it’s important to note that the views of the government are not necessarily reflective of the views of the peoples of those countries,” he said. “We’ve been to Turkey and Egypt many times in the past and have found the people very warm, friendly and engaging.”
Olsen, who has friends onboard the Scarlet Lady, said the Egypt stop had been expected to be a high point of the tour by the passengers, who had got up at 6am to be ready for the day. “This was literally a last-minute call by the Egyptian government,” said Olsen. “The night before, everything was fine.
“Lots of passengers had paid a lot of money for private tours to see the pyramids and the museums. It was going to be the trip of lifetime but now they’re in limbo.”
The ship has now been rerouted a second time, and will be docking in Chania, Crete, on Friday and Montenegro on Sunday.
Campbell called Turkey’s decision “stunning”, telling CNN: “The reasoning behind it is that it’s a gay group.”
Atlantis had chartered cruises to Turkey 13 times over the past 25 years without incident, he added, and calls involving the US embassy in Turkey had failed to reverse the ban.
LuPone, the 77-year-old Tony award winner who is performing on the ship, shared her shock regarding the news on Instagram on Saturday. “The Atlantis cruise I am performing on next week has been banned from entering Turkey,” she wrote. “A ship – a magnificent ship – full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is onboard.
“I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call. I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this.”
Atlantis Events and Virgin Voyages have been approached for comment.