Egypt Blocks Gay Cruise Days After Turkiye Turned It Away
A gay cruise carrying about 1,900 passengers was refused entry to Egypt on 9 July 2026, only days after Turkiye blocked the same ship from docking. The vessel, Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, was chartered by LGBTQIA+ travel company Atlantis Events. It had already been forced to rewrite its route once. Egypt made it twice.
Turned Away Twice In One Week
Scarlet Lady left Athens on 5 July for a 10-night Mediterranean sailing, with roughly 1,100 of its passengers travelling from the United States. Broadway star Patti LuPone is on board and booked to perform.
Turkiye moved first. Officials barred the ship from Kuşadası and Istanbul, citing “moral standards” and “family values.” They said the “event” was cancelled because the charter group was “known for behaviours incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values.” Atlantis rerouted to Egypt. Then Egypt said no as well.
Why Did Egypt Say No?
This is where it gets murky. Egypt gave no public reason at all.
“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 in Alexandria,” Atlantis told passengers.
Atlantis chief executive Rich Campbell pointed out that the company ran a near-identical trip in 2025 without any problem. “We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year without issue,” he wrote. “So we were surprised by this unfortunate decision.”
If the same route sailed fine a year ago, what changed in twelve months? Campbell also said it was the first time in Atlantis’s 36-year history that it had been “actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.”
LuPone did not stay quiet. On Instagram she said she was “shocked” that a ship “full of gay men. And me” could be refused over who was aboard. She also made it clear she was still showing up. “I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call,” she wrote.
Where The Ship Sails Now
The revised route skips both Turkiye and Egypt. Scarlet Lady now calls at Santorini and Chania in Greece, Kotor in Montenegro, and Dubrovnik and Zadar in Croatia before reaching Trieste, Italy, on 15 July. Atlantis says it is still working to secure replacement ports.
At DNA, we cover plenty of good news for LGBTQIA+ travel. This was not one of those weeks. Two governments turned away paying tourists in the space of seven days, and only one of them bothered to explain why.
