An Atlantis cruise sailing across the Mediterranean was denied entry to Turkey by the Erdogan regime on the grounds that the majority of the passengers are LGBTQIA+. Broadway icon Pattie LuPone, one of the star performers booked for the cruise, broke the news in an enraged Instagram post on July 2, a few days ahead of the ship’s departure.
View this post on Instagram“The Atlantis cruise I am performing on next week has been banned from entering Turkey. A ship—a magnificent ship full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board. I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call.”
The cruise, which departs from Athens on July 5, originally promised stops in Mykonos and Santorini in Greece, Kuşadası and Istanbul in Turkey, Dubrovnik and Zadar in Croatia, and finally Venice, Italy. Rich Campbell, the long-time president and CEO of Atlantis Events, told CNN that the cruise will replace the Turkish ports with stops in Cairo, Egypt and Crete, Greece.
Campbell also told CNN that this is the first time in the company’s history that it was “actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.” Atlantis Events was founded in 1991 as a charter company that contracts the use of ships and resorts owned by other operators for cruises and other vacation offerings catering to the LGBTQIA+ community.
BASIN AÇIKLAMASIBasın yayın organları ve sosyal medya platformlarında gündeme gelen, toplumumuzun yapısıyla ve ahlaki değerlerimizle örtüşmeyen davranışlarıyla bilinen gruplarca kiralanan bir kruvaziyer gemisinin 7 Temmuz 2026 tarihinde Aydın Kuşadası Limanınına planlamış… pic.twitter.com/MHqN0NoXHI
— T.C. Aydın Valiliği (@AydinValiligi) June 28, 2026The Governorship Of Aydın, Turkey posted to its X account that “The planned cruise ship event scheduled for July 7, 2026, at the Aydın Kuşadası Port, organized by groups known for their behavior that is incompatible with the structure and moral values of our society and which has caused great unease among various segments of our society, has been cancelled.”
One passenger sailing with Virgin on a similar itinerary through the Greek isles with stops in Kuşadası and Istanbul posted on Reddit to share CNN’s coverage of the incident, writing, “The irony is that I’m currently on Scarlet Lady now and we just visited these [cities in Turkey]. And there’s a sizable gay contingent on this boat (including me). I guess we slipped under the radar. This, my friends, is why we still need a Pride month.”
Related: Everything You Need To Know About Pride 2026 To Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Communities
Indeed, President Errdogan’s government has recently cracked down on the queer community through digital bans and possible renewal of criminal and civil penalties. In June, a Turkish court banned nine queer dating apps in the country. That same month, dozens of X accounts belonging to LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations were blocked by the Turkish government. In October, 2025 legislation was introduced that would recriminalize not only homosexuality and gender-affirming health care, but also LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations and even the coverage of queer and trans stories by journalists.
Turkish officials were careful to stay cordial with the broader cruise industry in their press release on X, writing, “Cruise tourism, which holds a significant place in our city's tourism and in which Kuşadası district holds a leading position in our country, continues as the residents and tourism businesses of our city have been accustomed to for years.”
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That may not be enough to keep tourists flowing into Turkish ports of call, however. Although Kuşadası was one of the country’s busiest destinations for cruise ships in 2025. That was before the Iran war disrupted global travel, particularly in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region and the Mediterranean. In May, Princess Cruises announced it would remove Istanbul from its Mediterranean itineraries for 2027, swapping Turkey for Trieste.
The U.S. State Department currently has a Level 2 travel advisory posted for Turkey, recommending travelers “exercise increased caution,” indicating the country “contains areas with higher security risk”—namely Turkey’s shared borders with Syria and Iraq.
View this post on InstagramPatti LuPone isn’t the only one who’s outraged by Turkey’s refusal to welcome the Scarlet Lady and her passengers, of course. The Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (KaosGL), active since 1994, posted a statement to Instagram, “We've been here for centuries. And we are the citizens of this country. You can stop a ship. You can ban an event. You can block a walk. But you can't ban people from existing.”
Related: MSC Cruises Just Banned a Major Hidden Travel Surcharge for Summer 2026
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