Cruise itineraries revised to avoid Red Sea attacks on shipping

Virgin Voyages ship Resilient Lady is taking the long route home from New Zealand, to avoid sailing via the Red Sea.

Virgin Voyages and Carnival International are among the cruise lines cutting the Red Sea from sailings, amid ongoing attacks on shipping.

Virgin’s Resilient Lady which departs Australia and New Zealand next month for the northern summer has revised its March 27 repositioning. The Resilient Lady will now sail via Cape Town, South Africa to Athens via Barcelona for May 7, instead of sailing via Singapore, Dubai and the Suez Canal.

A spokesperson for Virgin’s cruise brand said that the safety of passengers and crew was their top priority.

“Like many other cruise brands, we have been watching the current conflict in the Middle East closely, connecting regularly with global security experts to consider the impacts to the repositioning voyages planned for Resilient Lady in 2024.

“We remain concerned about potential escalations in this part of the world over the next 12 months and the risk that this presents for safe passage through the region.”

The cruise line said guests booked on to the original passage have guaranteed sailings on the new itinerary or opt for cruise credit or a full refund, depending on the cost of their original sailing.

Since last year and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, shipping sailing through the Red Sea has been hit by attacks from Houthi rebels on the coast of Yemen. They continue to attack shipping on the busy shipping lanes linking the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, used by cruise and cargo ships.

Virgin’s steering clear of the Red Sea comes after Carnival Corp, parent company to a number of cruise operators, said that it was altering a dozen itineraries to avoid the troubled waters.

This move diverts ships from Carnival, Princess and Holland America Lines, amongst others, moving into Europe for the coming summer.

Despite the diversion of thousands of nautical miles around Africa, Carnival says that the diversions have not affected appetites for cruises at the other end of lengthy repositionings.

“The company has not seen an impact on booking trends due to the Red Sea situation and has no other Red Sea transits until November 2024,” the company said in a news update.

MSC has also cancelled sailings on MSC Virtuosa and MSC Opera due to pass through Dubai in January, due to a lack of “suitable alternative itineraries”.

Similarly, Silverseas cancelled multiple sailings aboard the Silver Moon, visiting Muscat, Oman, and Dubai due to operational challenges of sailing from Greece through to the Indian Ocean.