Princess Cruises Sea Princess moors at Dubai Cruise Terminal three hours late due to Cyclone Ashobaa

By Shaun Ebelthite on June 11, 2015 • ( Leave a comment )

Princess Cruises’ cruise ship Sea Princess had docked at Dubai’s Port Rashid three hours late due to the adverse sea conditions generated in the Arabian Sea by Cyclone Ashobaa, Princess has told Cruise Arabia & Africa.

According to officials at Port Control, who spoke to Cruise Arabia & Africa on condition of anonymity, the cruise ship was meant to arrive at 6.30am, instead mooring lines were secured at Dubai Cruise Terminal at 9.30am.

Sea Princess is using Dubai as a turnaround port on the first leg of her 2015 World Cruise from Sydney, Australia. She will spend the day in the port, taking on new passengers for the European leg of her World Cruise.

The 31-night Dubai to Southampton cruise will depart as scheduled despite the late arrival due to the cyclone, Princess Cruises have confirmed.

“Sea Princess arrived in Dubai approximately three hours later than scheduled due to Cyclone Ashobaa, however no further changes to the itinerary are expected at this time,” a spokesperson for Princess Cruises said. “As guest and crew safety are among our top priority, we’ll continue to monitor the weather patterns and adjust as necessary.”

Sea Princess will embark new passengers at Dubai Cruise Terminal Thursday, but around half of all passengers on-board were booked for the full World Cruise from Sydney. She will stay overnight, departing for Muscat at 1pm on Friday afternoon.

The cruise ship is scheduled to call at Muscat on Saturday morning, by which time Ashobaa is expected to have weakened to a lingering depression system, with only gusty winds and scattered showers, rather than the gale force winds and 20-foot seas that Sea Princess pounded through in the Arabian Sea.

This is Sea Princess second port call in Dubai after making her maiden visit on June 10^th, 2013, making her port call and use of Dubai as a turnaround port today almost two years to the day since she was last here.

Sea Princess’ cruise from Dubai to Southampton, UK will take her to some of the most exotic and iconic port in the Middle East and Mediterranean, in fact 19 days of the 31 day cruise will be spent in port and two ports (Dubai and Venice) will be overnight stops.