This follows the line's recent decision to reroute Resilient Lady's upcoming repositioning voyages from Australia back to the Mediterranean in order to avoid the Red Sea.
'On the heels of these recent changes and based on the regional and government advice we have received, we remain very concerned about potential escalations in the Red Sea over the next 12 months,' a Virgin Voyages spokesperson said.
Due to the risks, 'We have been left with no choice but to cancel our 2024/25 voyage season plans for Resilient Lady, impacting the late 2024 and early 2025 repositioning voyages between Europe and Australia and a second sailing season in Australian waters.'
Cruises from San Juan
Resilient Lady will now complete its Mediterranean season Oct. 20 and head to the Caribbean for a new series of cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The seven-, eight-, 10- and 11-night itineraries will chart St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Colombia and Dominica.
The repositioning routes from Athens to San Juan will be advised as soon as they’re ready, the spokesperson said, adding they will feature ports including Catania, Casablanca and Tenerife.
Virgin Voyages was 'embraced by the Australia and New Zealand markets with a warm welcome and celebrated an extremely successful inaugural season — the love was mutual,' according to the spokesperson. 'To say that we are disappointed to have come to this tough conclusion is an understatement.'
Leaving the door open for 2025
The line made the change now to minimize potential future disruption to passengers' holiday plans and on the advice of customers and travel partners who've asked to give them as much time as possible to make alternative arrangements.
Impacted customers may rebook another voyage or opt for a full refund.
Virgin Voyages also said it's working through options to return to Australia and the Asia Pacific region 'once regional repositioning opportunities become more tenable ... and in the event that we return for the '25 season, existing booked sailors will have priority to move onto these sailings.'
Welcoming Aussies and Kiwis to Europe
As a parting note, Virgin Voyages welcomed Australians and New Zealanders to Europe where two of its ships will be crusing from Barcelona, Piraeus and the UK's Portsmouth during the northern summer 2024.
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