LGBTQ+ cruise ship refused entry to Egypt days after Turkey turned it away

The Scarlet Lady arriving into Portsmouth in 2021. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA View image in fullscreen The Scarlet Lady arriving into Portsmouth in 2021. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA LGBTQ+ cruise ship refused entry to Egypt days after Turkey turned it away Scarlet Lady’s 2,000 passengers informed of change as one of those onboard pledges to ‘sparkle and spend elsewhere’ An LGBTQ+ cruise ship blocked from Turkish waters this week has been refused entry into Egypt . The Scarlet Lady’s 2,000 passengers, including the Broadway performer Patti LuPone , woke on Thursday morning to find a note placed under their cabin doors informing them that the ship was urgently looking for alternative ports. View image in fullscreen The letter addressed to passengers “Early this morning, we were informed that Scarlet Lady has been denied entry into Egyptian waters, and, as a result, will no longer be able to call in Alexandria today,” Rich Campbell, the chief executive of Atlantis Events, the tour group that chartered the Virgin Voyages ship, informed passengers. “I know how much this visit meant to so many of you. We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year without issue. So we were surprised by this unfortunate decision,” he wrote. The note concluded: “Please know that both the Atlantis and Virgin Voyages teams worked tirelessly to make this call in Alexandria a possibility. This news came as a surprise to all of us, and we’re just as disappointed as you are.” The visit to Egypt was already a change to the planned tour, hastily arranged after the ship was refused entry to Turkey . No official reason has yet been given for the decision of the Egyptian government. The 10-day “Athens to Venice” cruise was banned from Turkey after authorities published a statement online saying the cruise was chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”. The ship’s arrival had been cancelled after it “sparked significant public concern”, they added. “There is absolutely no possibility of the group in question visiting our province for an event of this nature.” Randy Slovacek , who is on the cruise, wrote on his blog : “In the company’s 36-year history, Atlantis had never had a ship denied entry to dock. And now it’s happened in two countries in one week. View image in fullscreen Updates sent to those onboard the Scarlet Lady “Trust and believe, me and my fellow passengers will be fine: if they don’t want our tourism, we will sparkle and spend elsewhere. As my fellow blogger Joe Jervis once wrote: ‘They wish we were invisible. We’re not. Let’s dance.’” Kyle Olsen, owner of Hermes Holidays, another LGBTQ+ tour company, said he believed that had Turkey not refused entry to the ship earlier this week, Egypt would not have issued its ban. “I worry that other countries are going to be emboldened in turn to ban gay cruises from their ports as well,” he said. “This is a sad representation of the way the world i