A Virgin Voyages cruise organized by Atlantis Events was supposed to make a couple of stops in Turkey on a cruise that’s taking place this upcoming week, only for government officials to block this on the grounds of “moral standards.” While it’s common for countries to have different laws surrounding what kind of sexual activity is allowed within its borders, blocking a cruise based on the general customer base is pretty unprecedented.
Turkey blocks Atlantis Events cruise at the last minute
Atlantis Events organizes cruises primarily for LGBTQ+ travelers. The idea is that they essentially charter cruise ships, and then sell cabins to those who are fans of the Atlantis Events concept. Atlantis Events has a 10-night cruise departing on July 5, 2026, operated by the Scarlet Lady ship, belonging to Richard Branson’s Virgin Voyages brand. The cruise is expected to have 1,900 guests, with 1,100 being from the United States.
The cruise is departing from Athens and ending in Venice, and it was supposed to make stops in Turkey, Greece, and Croatia, before ending in Italy. In the case of Turkey, planned stops included a July 7 visit to Kusadasi, and a July 8 visit to Istanbul. However, that’s no longer in the cards.
Turkish authorities have reportedly blocked this cruise from visiting Turkey at the last minute, citing “moral standards” and “family values,” claiming that the ship was chartered by groups “known for behaviors incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values.” Turkey has of course been becoming increasingly more conservative under Erdogan.
In place of these two ports, the ship will instead dock in Alexandria, Egypt, for a day, with tours to Cairo available. If you look at any sort of an equality index, Egypt ranks even lower than Turkey, so that’s not exactly ideal. I must also say, describing the port as “Cairo (Alexandria)” strikes me as taking quite some liberties — that’s like saying “Miami (Port Canaveral).” Anyway, there will also be a stop in the port town of Heraklion, Greece, on the island of Crete.
Rich Campbell, the CEO of Atlantis Events, stated that this is the first time in 36 years that the company has been “actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.”
My take on this unprecedented cruise ship “blocking”
To state the obvious, I’m not a fan of Erdogan, but ideologically, this is exactly what you’d expect from his administration.
Let me also say that while I’m gay, based on my understanding of these Atlantis Events cruises (and how they’re marketed), this just isn’t up my alley. I’m not saying that from some place of internalized homophobia, or anything, but instead, I’m just an introvert, and I don’t particularly enjoy “events” (whatever form they may come in — that includes sporting events, inaugural flights, etc.).
All that being said, this is indeed pretty unprecedented. Countries across the globe have different laws for all kinds of things, ranging from selling chewing gum, to same sex activity, to free speech. Virtually all countries don’t have laws against “being” gay, since you can’t arrest someone for what they’re thinking.
For more conservative countries, the laws are generally against same sex activity, the way one expresses themselves, etc. Even Saudi Arabia’s tourism webpage claims that LGBT visitors are welcome:
Are LGBT visitors welcome to visit Saudi Arabia?
Everyone is welcome to visit Saudi Arabia and visitors are not asked to disclose such personal details.
That brings me to my take here — obviously I strongly disagree with Turkey’s current administration and many of the country’s laws, but I’m kind of surprised this hasn’t come up before. Why? Well, if the cruise ship docks in Turkey and is no longer in international waters, is that essentially the equivalent of a “private venue” in that country?
For example, if the vibe on the ship’s decks were similar to what you’d find in the promotional video above, I can see how government officials (who also like to crack down on private gay venues) would argue that violates their standards.
To be clear, I strongly disagree with their “standards,” and the things they crack down on. However, if you’re going to have issues with this kind of activity on the ground, then it seems rather consistent to also have a similar approach when there’s a ship that you know will have a similar vibe.
Bottom line
An Atlantis Events cruise operated by Virgin Voyages is embarking on a journey shortly, which was supposed to stop in Turkey, Greece, and Croatia, before ending in Italy. However, authorities in Turkey have blocked the cruise, citing “moral standards” and “family values.”
Obviously I very much disagree with their standards, but if you’re a country cracking down on anything gay (including private venues, banning pride, etc.), then I am not surprised to see this happening, even though it’s the first time in 36 years that Atlantis Events has experienced something like this.
Are you surprised to see Turkey taking the unprecedented action of banning this Atlantis Events cruise?