Passengers On A 111-Night Luxury World Cruise Confronted By Startling Pirate Warning
Traveling the world by cruise ship usually conjures images of endless buffets, Broadway-style shows, and panoramic ocean views. However, even the most luxurious voyages can have unexpected situations, such as the sea not always being smooth sailing.
That lesson came straight from the bridge of Cunard’s Queen Anne in mid‑March when the 114,000‑ton ship slipped quietly through a corner of Southeast Asia once notorious for piracy. The Queen Anne, carrying more than 3,350 passengers on its 111‑night world cruise, left Hamburg on January 7 and is due back on April 29 after stops in over a dozen countries.
Guests who shelled out roughly $16,379 each for the trip weren’t on high alert until Captain Inger Klein’s voice crackled over the ship’s PA system on the evening of March 14. In a calm but firm announcement, she said the vessel was entering the Sulu‑Celebes Sea, an area international authorities once labeled a hotspot for maritime crime, and that the ship would move to “heightened security alertness.”
Specifically, passengers were asked to keep curtains drawn and lights off in their cabins from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the transit, and the outdoor promenade decks would be closed overnight. “The safety and security of everyone on board is my highest priority,” Captain Klein explained. She reassured travelers that large cruise ships present a minimal target for piracy and that extensive precautions were in place.
During its 111‑day world voyage, Cunard Cruise Line’s Queen Anne issued a routine warning.
Reports from the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) confirm that kidnapping-for-ransom incidents peaked between 2016 and 2019 in the waters between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. However, no reported abductions have occurred since January 2020, and this January, the region’s threat level was officially downgraded from high to low.
Still, maritime best practices call for extra vigilance in areas with a history of trouble, even if the risk today is remote. Cunard’s spokesperson told Business Insider that such security announcements are routine when sailing through regions formerly identified as piracy-prone and that there was no specific intelligence suggesting an imminent threat to the Queen Anne.
Getty Images"I didn't know there were pirates around this area. We are crossing from Darwin to Manila"
The 114,000‑ton vessel is scheduled to conclude its world voyage late next month.
For passengers, life on board barely skipped a beat. By day, the ship buzzed with its usual lineup of enrichment talks, cooking demos, and spa appointments. At night, bars stayed open, theaters ran shows as scheduled, and shore excursions proceeded without disruption. The only real change was the temporary blackout on the open decks.
It shows that the romance of world cruising, watching sunrises over distant horizons, meeting people from all corners of the globe, and waking up in a new country nearly every day, comes wrapped in layers of logistics and safety planning most travelers never see.
Getty ImagesSo, if you’re weighing a bucket‑list cruise that crosses remote seas, here’s what to keep in mind: top‑tier cruise lines like Cunard build contingency plans for everything from medical emergencies to piracy warnings. You’ll hear about it if something affects your itinerary, but you’re unlikely to feel it beyond a brief announcement or a temporary change to your routine.
In the end, the Queen Anne’s brief detour into heightened security was less a cause for alarm than a peek behind the curtain at the measures keeping modern cruise travel both adventurous and secure, even in corners of the ocean where history reminds us to stay alert.
