Silversea drops Red Sea and Middle East ports for 2025 World Cruise

Silversea Cruises has reportedly revised the itinerary for its 2025 world cruise to avoid the Red Sea and the Middle East, with a circumnavigation of Africa added in favour of a transit of the Suez Canal.

Silver Dawn’s original 136-night cruise from Tokyo to New York City included destinations in the Arabian Gulf and Egypt, as well as a crossing of the Suez Canal, but according to booked guests, the ship will now sail around Africa.

As a result, all ports of call in the Mediterranean and the Middle East have been removed from the voyage, which will instead feature several new destinations in West and East Africa, such as Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Angola, Senegal, Gambia and more.

New ports of call include Cape Town, Mahe, Takoradi, Lüderitz, Tema, Dakar, Port Louis, Luanda and Banjul.

Silver Dawn will set sail on January 13th, 2025 as planned, visiting at least 59 destinations in 30 countries across four continents, taking guests closer to the authentic heartbeat of iconic and off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Traveling from East to West, the itinerary also allows for more time ashore in unconventional seasons, the company said.

As part of the new itinerary, Silver Dawn is scheduled to visit several ports of call in the Far East after leaving Japan.

The 596-guest vessel will then head to Southeast Asia for destinations in Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand before continuing to the Indian Ocean and around Southern Africa.

Following the new segment in Africa, the cruise will continue in Northern and Western Europe, featuring destinations in the North Sea, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and the Baltic Sea. 

Silver Dawn will also visit Iceland, Greenland and Canada, before concluding the world cruise in New York.

Silversea’s 2025 world cruise is the latest itinerary to be disrupted by the ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea, which has prompted all major cruise lines to avoid the region due to Houthi attacks on international shipping from Yemen.

Yemen lies at the entrace to the Red Sea, which is the only waterway providing access to the Suez Canal, a manmade channel connecting the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.