Royal Caribbean Reroutes Ultimate World Cruise To Avoid The Red Sea

Passengers on the Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise on the Serenade of the Seas were asked to vote on an alternative itinerary. Meanwhile, the Red Sea crisis, an ongoing military standoff that started on October 19, 2023, led to the cruise ship avoiding the area for safety. Now, passengers on the world cruise have a new and exciting itinerary to look forward to around Africa.

Royal Caribbean reroutes Ultimate World Cruise over Red Sea crisis

The reason for changing the itinerary is the Red Sea crisis, an ongoing military standoff that started on October 19, 2023. The standoff has seen the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen firing a barrage of missiles and armed drones at Israel.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise was originally set to sail in the Red Sea. However, it would be dangerous for the cruise ship to sail anywhere near the action. Meanwhile, after an onboard vote was held among passengers, the Serenade of the Seas is now taking an alternative itinerary around Africa.

New itinerary for the Serenade of the Seas

Guests were given five days to vote for their preferred option for a new itinerary using a unique voting process that started in late February. According to Royal Caribbean, the new route will offer 18 ports of call in Africa and Europe and will include exotic destinations, such as Mauritius, Madagascar and the Seychelles.

Meanwhile, sailing from Dubai to Italy via South Africa, the 43-night segment of the world cruise is set to take place between May 9 and June 30, 2024.

Royal Caribbean’s President and CEO Michael Bayley explained the decision in a statement, saying, “We have all been closely monitoring the unrest in the Red Sea and were hopeful everything would settle down.”

Bayley said they had presented guests with voting options for alternative itineraries, adding:

However, as we are approximately 90 days away from the the impacted itinerary, we would like to present various options for your consideration, as we need to prepare and arrange logistics.

Royal Caribbean clearly had the spirit of adventure in mind, while presenting two options of alternative itineraries to the guests, with one sailing around Africa. Meanwhile, the second alternative itinerary offered more days at sea, but fewer ports of call. However, it added more Mediterranean locations, including Egypt, Greece, Italy and Turkey.

As noted by Bayley, while the chosen itinerary wasn’t what guests anticipated when the cruise began, the new itinerary will mark the first time Royal Caribbean will visit Africa. Moreover, guests will receive a 25 percent pro-rated refund of the segment cruise fare. This will be presented in a refundable onboard credit.

Meanwhile, passengers will also have the opportunity to debark from the Serenade of the Seas during this portion of the itinerary. In that case, they will receive a pro-rata refund for the days spent off the ship.

About the Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise

The Ultimate World Cruise launched from Miami in early December on a 274-night cruise across various parts of the world. Originally, the itinerary featured more than 150 ports of call in 60 countries on seven continents. These included Antarctica, Asia, Europe and South America.