Red Sea troubles force luxury cruise ship to sail 23,000 miles in the wrong direction

One of the world's most luxurious cruise ships is about to sail 23,000 miles in the wrong direction to avoid violence in the Middle East.

Luxury line Seabourn on Wednesday announced that one of its seven ships, Seabourn Encore, would reposition from Asia to Europe in early 2025 on an unusual easterly course that would take it across the Pacific to the Panama Canal and then on to Europe.

That's a switch from the line's original plan to have the vessel reposition from Asia to Europe on a more traditional westerly course that would have taken it across the Indian Ocean and through the Red Sea and Suez Canal to Europe.

The change will result in the ship sailing nearly 20,000 nautical miles — roughly 23,000 standard miles — in the opposite direction of its long-scheduled original routing for the repositioning.

"Changes were made to the original planned itineraries to prioritize the safety of guests and to avoid the Red Sea," the line said in a statement sent to media late Wednesday.

Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea over the past nine months have prompted cruise lines to cancel a growing number of voyages through the waterway. But reroutings on a scale of the one announced Wednesday by Seabourn have been rare.

The change is forcing the last-minute cancellation of nearly three months of 2025 voyages on the ship, which is one of the most upscale cruise vessels in the world. Fares for Seabourn Encore sailings typically start at around $1,000 per person, per day.

The cancellations are for nearly every voyage scheduled to take place between March 2025 and May 2025.

Instead of its original itineraries during that period, the ship will operate six new voyages starting March 2, 2025, through May 25, 2025, that will range from seven to 25 days and can be combined into one long 53-day sailing.

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The new sailings will bring calls across Southeast Asia, Japan, Hawaii, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean. They will include 36 port stops in 18 countries, including many destinations Seabourn Encore has never visited since it debuted in 2016.

The ship's passage through the Panama Canal will be a first for the ship. The vessel will also make its first stops at U.S. ports as part of the new routing. There will be U.S. calls in Hawaii, California and Florida.

Seabourn Encore will also visit two ports in Japan that no Seabourn ship has ever visited before: Tokushima, known for its serene landscapes, and Wakayama, celebrated for its temples and coastal scenery.

Other highlights of the new trips include overnight calls in Honolulu, Hawaii; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Kobe, Japan.

The new 2025 voyages, in order by departure date, are:

• March 2 to March 16: A 14-day Southeast Asia and Japan sailing from Singapore to Kobe
• March 16 to April 9: A 25-day Japan and Hawaiian Islands sailing from Kobe to Long Beach, California
• April 9 to April 28: A 19-day Panama Canal sailing from Long Beach to Miami
• April 28 to May 10: A 12-day Atlantic crossing from Miami to Lisbon
• May 10 to May 18: An eight-day Western Mediterranean sailing from Lisbon to Civitavecchia, Italy (the port for Rome)
• May 18 to May 25: A seven-day Amalfi Coast and Adriatic sailing from Civitavecchia to Dubrovnik, Croatia

As part of the announcement, Seabourn said passengers who book by Nov. 19, 2024, will get a 10% discount on the new voyages.

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