Hundreds of passengers on UK-bound cruise ships are facing a week longer at sea, with Mediterranean stops they paid to visit being axed as their ships are rerouted around Africa to avoid the Red Sea following Houthi attacks.
Carnival Corporation, the company which owns major cruise lines like P&O and Cunard, has rerouted 12 of its ships away from the region amid simmering tensions in the Middle East.
Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and P&O Cruises’ Arcadia, both of which were due to return to Southampton from world tours via the Suez Canal, will now spend between seven and 10 days journeying around the southern tip of Africa instead.
This will mean passengers will miss out on visiting popular tourist destinations which they have paid to see, including Dubai, Petra, Athens, Barcelona and Seville.
Many who have had their trips disrupted have been offered cash to spend on board and credit for future holidays, while others who only booked the final leg of the world cruises have reportedly had their holidays cancelled altogether.
Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 was due to return to Southampton from world tours via the Suez Canal, but will now sail around the southern tip of Africa
Pictured: A video showing the hijacking of a shipping vessel by Houthi Rebels in November
Cunard notified QM2 passengers of the itinerary change via email, with holidaymakers set to sail from Sri Lanka on 31 March now heading to South Africa instead of the United Arab Emirates.
As well as refunding on-shore experiences planned for the originally scheduled stops, the cruise is offering customers $500 spending money as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
Passengers had been due to take part in tours around the ancient city of Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Tours were also planned of Athens from the historic Greek port of Piraeus, and of Seville from where the ship was due to dock in Cadiz.
Instead, Cunard told customers, they will be sailing around the coast of West Africa.
New stops will include Durban in South Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia, and Portugal’s capital Lisbon.
The operator says the embarkation and disembarkation dates for QM2, which is due to dock in Southampton on April 28, will remain the same.
Hundreds are likely to be affected, with the QM2 carrying 2,500 passengers and Aracdia carrying just over 2,000.
Cunard said it was ‘committed to ensuring the safety and well-being’ of its guests and crew.
Passengers had been due to take part in tours around the ancient city of Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World (file image)
Tours were also planned of Athens from the historic Greek port of Piraeus. File image shows the Parthenon in the Greek capital
In a statement, Carnival said the company had made the decision to reroute ‘given recent developments and in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities.’
The move is expected to effect 12 ships across seven of its brands up until May this year.
A P&O spokesperson said of Arcadia that operators had taken ‘the difficult decision to reroute the segment of the western circumnavigation that was due to operate in the Red Sea.
‘Arcadia’s itinerary will remain as planned up to Singapore and then will sail back to Southampton via the south and west coasts of Africa,’ they said.
Vessels passing Yemen have come under frequent assault since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the October 7 terror attack by the Hamas terror group.
Around 18 shipping companies – that would typically route their ships travelling from Asia to Europe through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal – have responded by rerouting their vessels around South Africa to avoid the risk posed in the strait.
But the journey, which takes ships around the Cape of Good Hope, is around 4,000 nautical miles longer than the Suez route, adds an average of nine days to the trip.
As a result, fears have been mounting over disruption of global supply chains, with attacks threatening to create shortages and drive up prices.