Merged: Cancellation of Suez transits for 2026 World Cruises

[Poole Boy]

Confirm by letter on board neither QA or QM2 will transit the Suez Canal in 2026. New itineraries to be published by Sept 30 . Email from Cunard / Travel Agents due to be sent out. 

[Drumbeat16]

I've just received the e-mail from Cunard advising of the changed itinerary.

[longton]

I've just received an email from Cunard informing me that my sailing Cape Town to Southampton has been cancelled. 

 

The ship will go via Cape Town on the way out and return via America and the Panama Canal.

[Jim_P]

I take it you are both on QA? I'm booked on QM2 but havnt had any notice of cancellation yet.

Edited Wednesday at 10:04 AM by Jim_P

[longton]

I was on Queen Anne.

 

This is from the email from Cunard:

 

We’d also like to let you know that we have changed Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage itinerary, and she will now sail home via Cape Town, South Africa following a similar route to Queen Anne’s original voyage. Full details of these Queen Mary 2 voyages will be available on  our website from 02‌ October‌ 2024.

[Jim_P]

Thanks. I'm doing Sydney to Hong Kong so it looks as though my itinerary won't change for the time being.

 

[Witchymob]

I was worried about this when I noticed all Queen Anne's World cruise sectors had disappeared from their website.  Have booked Fremantle to Southampton and we then have 2 months in UK/Europe and have booked Crown Princess World sector back to Sydney.  Evening here now so have to contact Travel agent in the morning and see if can get anything to get us to the Uk. Not sure if it is even going to come to Fremantle and any replacement would have to be longer and more expensive.  Gutted this was to be our big overseas trip we have wanted to do for a long time.

[Drumbeat16]

49 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

I take it you are both on QA? I'm booked on QM2 but havnt had any notice of cancellation yet.

No, we are booked on QM but it's only changed from KL onwards.

[MWINT]

We were booked on the Cape Town to Southampton too. Not sure why they didn’t give us the option of doing the trip the other way rather than cancelling, 

[57eric]

I just received an automated notification from my TA that my 2026 Queen Anne booking (H607) has been cancelled.  When I search the Cunard website for March, 2026 Queen Anne voyages, nothing appears.  What's going on?

[WantedOnVoyage]

See related separate topic about the announced re-routing of QA and QM2's world cruises away from Suez.

[57eric]

Thanks.  What I got from my TA was a standard Cunard cancellation form.  No attempt at any explanation.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Well that's not very impressive... from Cunard or agent I must say.  We'd never do that at Cook's in the old days!!  I still remember calling clients when QE2 and CANBERRA went to the Falklands!  No e-mail nonsenses then... you called them. 

[57eric]

Sorry, I did get an email.  I try to segregate incoming emails related to bookings vs. general marketing material by filtering, but it's an inexact science.  The one from Cunard went to the latter folder.

[bluemarble]

Here's the revised QM2 itinerary for the final segment from Port Kelang to Southampton now via Cape Town rather than via Dubai and the Suez Canal.

 

29 Mar 2026: Port Kelang

05 Apr 2026: Port Louis

09 Apr 2026: Durban

12 Apr 2026: Cape Town

13 Apr 2026: Cape Town

15 Apr 2026: Walvis Bay

22 Apr 2026: Dakar

25 Apr 2026: Tenerife

27 Apr 2026: Cadiz

30 Apr 2026: Southampton

[bluemarble]

Here is what I am seeing for QA's revised 2026 World Voyage. I've colored in blue the dates that do not appear to have changed from the original QA 2026 World Voyage itinerary. (I believe the original itinerary had QA in Singapore on 20-21 Feb 2026. It looks like the revised itinerary now has her in Singapore on 21-22 Feb 2026.)

 

Queen Anne Revised 2026 World Voyage

11 Jan 2026: Southampton

15 Jan 2026: Funchal

16 Jan 2026: Tenerife

19 Jan 2026: Mindelo

27 Jan 2026: Walvis Bay

30 Jan 2026: Cape Town

31 Jan 2026: Cape Town

2 Feb 2026: Port Elizabeth

4 Feb 2026: Durban

10 Feb 2026: Le Port

11 Feb 2026: Port Louis

16 Feb 2026: Colombo

20 Feb 2026: Port Kelang

21 Feb 2026: Singapore

22 Feb 2026: Singapore

26 Feb 2026: Hong Kong

27 Feb 2026: Hong Kong

2 Mar 2026: Manila

5 Mar 2026: Bitung

8 Mar 2026: Darwin

12 Mar 2026: Airlie Beach

14 Mar 2026: Brisbane

16 Mar 2026: Sydney

17 Mar 2026: Sydney

21 Mar 2026: Port Vila

23 Mar 2026: Suva

27 Mar 2026: International Date Line

29 Mar 2026: Honolulu

4 Apr 2026: Los Angeles

5 Apr 2026: Los Angeles

10 Apr 2026: Puerto Quetzal

13 Apr 2026: Panama Canal Transit

15 Apr 2026: Willemstad

16 Apr 2026: Oranjestad

19 Apr 2026: Miami

26 Apr 2026: Ponta Delgada

30 Apr 2026: Southampton

Edited Wednesday at 03:27 PM by bluemarble

[Poole Boy]

I was booked on the Dubai - Singapore , Cunard are planning to automatically rebook me on the Cape Town to Singapore leg , it’s an extra 4 days at no extra cost. No indication of what if anything will be offered if new leg is not suitable and I need to cancel.

[bluemarble]

I'm finding two slightly different versions of the QA 2026 World Voyage itinerary depending on where I look. One has QA at Le Port on 10 Feb and Port Louis on 11 Feb as I posted above. Another version has QA at those ports a day earlier with QA at Le Port on 9 Feb and Port Louis on 10 Feb. Not a big deal of course. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what Cunard publishes for the itinerary.

[longton]

We will try and change our cancelled QA Cape Town to Southampton to QM2.  

 

Unfortunately the QM2 sailing is one fewer nights than the one we booked on QA. But it has the port of Cadiz on the itinerary instead of Madeira which we like.

 

The arrival date 30 April is the same.

Edited Wednesday at 05:40 PM by longton
Omission

[bluemarble]

21 hours ago, bluemarble said:

I'm finding two slightly different versions of the QA 2026 World Voyage itinerary depending on where I look. One has QA at Le Port on 10 Feb and Port Louis on 11 Feb as I posted above. Another version has QA at those ports a day earlier with QA at Le Port on 9 Feb and Port Louis on 10 Feb. Not a big deal of course. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what Cunard publishes for the itinerary.

 

Cunard have posted the revised itinerary for the QA 2026 world voyage (H603D) on the Cunard US website. It's going to be 9 Feb for Le Port and 10 Feb for Port Louis.

 

I'm still seeing the original itinerary for the QA 2026 world voyage on the Cunard UK website as well as the original itinerary for the QM2 2026 world voyage on both the Cunard UK and US websites.

Edited 13 hours ago by bluemarble

[WantedOnVoyage]

Cunard port planners have been awakened from their slumbers... I don't recall a world cruise calling at both Réunion and Mauritius before and it sounds right out of a Messageries Maritime timetable c. 1954.  But I suppose they make diverting enough "stretch your legs" calls on the long Indian Ocean passage and you have bragging rights with French sailors in Toulon, too. 

Edited 13 hours ago by WantedOnVoyage

[Victoria2]

9 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Cunard port planners have been awakened from their slumbers... I don't recall a world cruise calling at both Réunion and Mauritius before and it sounds right out of a Messageries Maritime timetable c. 1954.  But I suppose they make diverting enough "stretch your legs" calls on the long Indian Ocean passage and you have bragging rights with French sailors in Toulon, too. 

We have visited both, twice on Queen Victoria world cruise segments, the last time being '19.

[crossing-fans]

12 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

We have visited both, twice on Queen Victoria world cruise segments, the last time being '19.

And just last year we visited both islands on the QM2 World Voyage.

[D&N]

32 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

calling at both Réunion and

Most French visitors fly. It's a relatively popular holiday destination.

[Victoria2]

16 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

We have visited both, twice on Queen Victoria world cruise segments, the last time being '19.

If I remember correctly, Reunion's Le Port was sort of 'shut' '19 due to an escalation of the French Caribbean general strike.

Luckily, the local entrepreneurs weren't taking part and we managed a car, driver  and a guide booked through Cunard.