Two Nations Close Their Ports to the Scarlet Lady, and a Cruise Becomes a Barometer

Turkey and Egypt turned away an LGBTQ-flagged vessel on moral grounds, sending it to Crete and exposing the hardening lines of who gets to move where.

A cruise ship built around openness found itself shut out by two governments in a single voyage. The Scarlet Lady, an LGBTQ-focused vessel operated by Virgin Voyages, was refused entry to ports in both Turkey and Egypt, forcing a reroute to the Greek island of Crete. The stated reason, according to reports from European outlets carrying the story, was moral objections. [1, 2] What was supposed to be a routine port call instead became a floating marker of where the lines are being drawn across the Mediterranean.

Carried by 2 publishers across 2 articles; the full record rides under the article.

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