Princess Cruises Revises World Cruise Itineraries to Avoid Red Sea

Princess Cruises is changing its 2025 World Cruise itineraries to avoid the Red Sea in light of the ongoing situation in the Middle East. Neither of the line’s World Cruises will visit the Middle East or Asia, but will instead add stops in Africa and Europe. “A Princess World Cruise is truly the voyage of a lifetime and after careful consideration with guidance from global security experts and government authorities, we know our guests will understand and appreciate the change to our upcoming 2025 itineraries to avoid certain areas,” said Terry Thornton, chief commercial officer for Princess Cruises.

“These global events beyond our control have necessitated these re-routings, but we are pleased to continue to ensure these world cruises retain destination-rich itineraries with incredible stops along the west Africa coast and the Mediterranean.”

Island Princess
Sailing from North America, Island Princess’ 116-day World Cruise offers two roundtrip options with departures from both Fort Lauderdale (Jan. 5, 2025) and Los Angeles (Jan. 20, 2025). The revised portion of the World Cruise runs between Feb. 16 and April 9, now departing Sydney and ending in South Africa. From there, the cruise resumes the scheduled itinerary starting in Valletta, Malta on April 9.

Guests originally scheduled to depart or join the cruise from Dubai on March 14, 2025, will now embark or disembark four days earlier on March 9, in Cape Town, South Africa. Booked guests disembarking in Cape Town will be refunded the amount equivalent to four days of the cruise fare. Those joining earlier will not incur an added cost to their cruise fare. All these guests will also receive a $300 onboard credit.

Crown Princess
Departing from Auckland on May 31, 2025 or Sydney on June 4, Crown Princess’ 113-day World Cruise will also bypass the Red Sea and surrounding region, including the transit of the Suez Canal. The ship will travel via Africa instead of the Red Sea and Asia itinerary.