Dozens of cruises scheduled to sail to the state’s shores have been cancelled due to concerns about “significant and ongoing conflict” in the Middle East, over 13,000km away.
Having only launched down under late last year, Virgin Voyages has confirmed that their flagship vessel the “Resilient Lady” will instead switch to a schedule in the Caribbean.
The company said the conflict posed “unacceptable risks for safe passage through the region for our Sailors, crew and vessel”.
“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,” a spokesperson said.
“To say that we are disappointed to have come to this tough conclusion is an understatement. These adjustments are happening now in order to minimise potential future disruption to our passengers’ holiday plans knowing there is a high likelihood that changes would need to happen in the future.”
Affected customers will be contacted by Virgin or their travel agents and given the option to rebook on another voyage or opt for a full refund.
“We are currently working through options to return to Australia and the Asia Pacific region once regional repositioning opportunities become more tenable … in the event that we return for the 25’ season, existing booked Sailors will have priority to move onto these sailings.”
TasPorts say 17 Virgin visits to Tasmania have been cancelled and plan to work with the industry to attract other operators to the state’s ports.
