The cruise ship Scarlet Lady, carrying more than 2,000 passengers and crew on an LGBTQ+ charter voyage, has been turned away from Egyptian waters just days after Turkey barred it from docking.
Rich Campbell, chief executive of Atlantis Events, the U.S. travel company that chartered the vessel, said the ship had received full approval to call at Alexandria but was rejected at the last minute. Some 1,200 shore excursions in the Cairo region had already been sold. The denial follows a statement issued on 28 June by Turkish authorities in Aydin province, who cited behaviour incompatible with the country's social structure and moral values in blocking the ship's planned 7 July stop in Kuşadası.
The Virgin Voyages vessel, which departed Athens on Sunday for a ten-day itinerary, redirected to Crete after receiving clearance from the Greek shipping ministry, allowing passengers to take shore excursions there.