Rather than pit passengers against pirates, Cruise Critic says Hapag-Lloyd is going to disembark all those on the first sector of Columbus' world cruise at an undisclosed point before they reach the Gulf of Aden and fly them to Dubai, where they will wait in five-star luxury for the ship to catch up. There will be no extra cost to passengers.
The ship will be manned by a skeleton crew as most of the staff will also be taken off and flown to Dubai.
Hapag-Lloyd managing director Sebastian Ahrens says as long as the situation in the Gulf of Aden is uncertain they will not cruise through the region with passengers on board.
Just over a week ago, there was a failed pirate attack on Oceania Cruises' Nautica.
Jane Archer
