Royal Caribbean puts Red Sea itinerary changes to unprecedented vote on World Cruise

Royal Caribbean International‘s first ever World Cruise has been beset by drama from the outset, first with itinerary changes due to bad weather, then due to the tragic death of a passenger, and now due to the ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea.

Serenade of the Seas departed Miami on December 10th, 2023 for a 9-month Ultimate World Cruise visiting 150 ports in more than 60 countries, with the full 274-night itinerary also available in 60 night regional segments, or 17 shorter 9- to 28-night legs.

One of these shorter segments, an 18-night Dubai to Piraeus (Athens) cruise departing May 9th, 2024, would have taken Serenade of the Seas through the Red Sea for her Suez Canal transit into the Mediterranean.

That cruise, along with all the cruise segments after it, has now been cancelled, and guests are being asked to vote on three options: they can either choose to circumnavigate Africa calling at a range of ports on the continent, or they can sail quickly around Africa and spend more time in the Mediterranean, or they can cancel altogether and get a refund.

The first choice (Immersive Africa) would feature port calls in three South African ports (Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay and Cape Town) as well as Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Namibia and several ports in West Africa.

The second choice (Africa & Greece) limits the African port calls to Seychelles, Cape Town and Tenerif, with port calls in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as Egypt and the Greek Isles instead.

Passengers who booked the Dubai to Piraeus segment can cancel for a full refund, as can passengers booked for the full World Cruise or other now-amended segments. Passengers wishing to cancel will be able to disembark the ship in Dubai.

The original World Cruise itinerary featured 11 World Wonders, but now with these revised options, the Africa & Greece option will offer one less than anticipated as it’s no longer feasible to sail through the Red Sea, so Petra, Jordan will be removed from the itinerary.

Royal Caribbean International is the latest of more than a dozen cruise lines to cancel or amend voyages due to the security crisis in the Red Sea, where Houthi militants have been attacking shipping since November last year.

The US has launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, and has intercepted weapons bound for the group, but has been unable to deter further attacks on civilian shipping.

With the group vowing to continue its attacks indefinitely in response to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, further disruption to regional cruise itineraries is likely.