Passengers sailing Cunard Line’s World Cruise aboard Queen Mary 2 have spoken out against the line’s decision to re-route the ship via South Africa, a destination already visited on the World Cruise, due to the security crisis in the Red Sea.

Passengers aboard Queen Mary 2 told the Daily Mail in the UK that they don’t want to re-visit South African ports as they are seen as “unsafe” after some passengers had an unpleasant shoreside experience in Durban, during which their mobile phones were stolen.

Queen Mary 2 departed New York on January 3rd, crossing the Atlantic to Southampton before making her way south along the west coast of Africa, visiting ports in South Africa and crossing the Indian Ocean to Australia.

Queen Mary 2 was the due to cruise through Asia and the Middle East bound for the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, with port calls in Dubai, Greece and Barcelona.

This segment of the World Cruise has been cancelled and Queen Mary 2 will instead double back on her previous itinerary, re-visiting South Africa and West Africa.

The decision was made by Cunard Line in response to Houthi attacks from Yemen on shipping in the Red Sea using drones and missiles. Several other cruise lines have also cancelled or amended cruises that were due to transit the Red Sea.

Passengers aboard Queen Mary 2 are unhappy however. One told the Daily Mail they didn’t want to return to the “unsafe” ports in Africa because, during a layover in Durban, South Africa, their phone was stolen.

They said: “Repeat South Africa and Namibia is a real pain and disappointment for all of us doing the full world tour, or so we thought.

“Most of the ports are not safe, we’ve had a mobile phone stolen on the way out, so we don’t like a return trip where one visit is enough, especially Port Elizabeth in South Africa and Walvis Bay in Namibia, both places where our options are extremely limited.”

Queen Mary 2 has also been struck by an unidentified virus that has infected around 10% of her passengers, prompting Cunard Line to implement a partial lockdown that may last until the end of the week.