Overview
- Turkish officials earlier this week refused the Virgin Voyages ship Scarlet Lady permission to dock in Kuşadası and Istanbul, saying the visit conflicted with local “moral values.”
- Passengers were notified Thursday that Egyptian authorities had revoked approval for the ship to enter Alexandria just hours before arrival and the vessel did not call at that port.
- The charter carried about 1,900–2,000 passengers, including headline performers, and organizers immediately worked to secure alternative ports and revise the itinerary.
- Local tour operators and vendors lost hundreds of prebooked excursions and related business as shore visits to Turkey and Egypt were canceled, leaving tangible economic losses for those providers.
- Rights groups and Atlantis Events called the denials unprecedented and discriminatory in the company’s 36‑year history, and observers warned the incidents reflect a wider rollback of public LGBTQ+ space in the region.