Princess alters 2025 world cruises to avoid the Red Sea

As a result, they'll no longer traverse Asia or the Middle East but will add ports in Africa and Europe.

Island Princess

Sailing from North America on Island Princess, the 116-day world cruise offers two roundtrip options, from Port Everglades Jan. 5 or Los Angeles Jan. 20. The revised itinerary, from Feb. 16-April 9 , departs Sydney and will travel to Melbourne and Fremantle (Perth), then on to Cape Town, South Africa, via Mauritius.

Island Princess will then visit Walvis Bay, Namibia; Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands; Funchal, Madeira; Gibraltar; Siracusa, Italy; Piraeus, Volos, Patmos; Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey; Rhodes, Chania (Crete) Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bar, Montenegro and Taranto, Italy.

From there, the cruise resumes the scheduled itinerary starting in Valletta, Malta on April 9 .

Travelers scheduled to depart or join the cruise from Dubai on March 14 will now embark or disembark four days earlier on March 9, in Cape Town. Those disembarking at Cape Town will be refunded the amount equivalent to four days of the cruise fare and those joining earlier will not incur an added cost. Both groups of passengers will also receive a $300 onboard credit.

Crown Princess

Departing from Down Under, Crown Princess — the largest Love Boat ever to host a world cruise — is scheduled to depart Auckland May 31, 2025 and Sydney June 4 for a 113-day voyage.

Instead of Asia and the Red Sea, the ship will sail around Africa. The revised itinerary is being finalized and will be communicated shortly.