Twenty cruise ships from fourteen lines will cruise from Dubai in 2019 and 2020, while seven cruise lines will homeport in the city offering roundtrip Dubai cruises during the winter cruise season.

There are several major cruise lines that homeport in Dubai seasonally, running roundtrip Dubai cruises in the Arabian Gulf between November and March every year.

This coming cruise season (2018/2019), MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, Pullmantur, AIDA Cruises and TUI will be cruising roundtrip from the city.

MSC roundtrip Dubai cruises

MSC Splendida will operate Dubai to Dubai cruises in the Arabian Gulf for the coming 2018/2019 cruise season.

MSC Cruises’ MSC Splendida will be operating 7-night itineraries (to be replaced by MSC Bellissima in 2019/2020). MSC Cruises will also use Dubai as a turnaround port for MSC Lirica when she begins her new roundtrip cruises to India in 2019.

Costa roundtrip Dubai cruises

Costa Cruises will be sailing 7-night cruises from Dubai aboard Costa Mediterranea for the coming two cruise seasons until at least 2020.

P&O roundtrip Dubai cruises

P&O will cruise roundtrip on 10-night cruises to all the major ports in the Arabian Gulf aboard Oceana. The cruise line’s inaugural Middle East season will be in 2018/19, but Oceana has been reconfirmed for the following year as well.

Pullmantur roundtrip Dubai cruises

Pullmantur will also operate 10-night roundtrip cruises from Dubai for the first time. The cruise line has said these Arabian Gulf itineraries have been designed “down to the last detail”.

AIDA roundtrip Dubai cruises

AIDA Cruises will homeport AIDAprima in Dubai for the coming two cruise seasons. She is the largest and most modern ship the cruise line has ever sent to the Middle East cruise market.

TUI roundtrip Dubai cruises

TUI Cruises will homeport Mein Schiff 4 for the coming 2018/19 cruise season, and Mein Schiff 5 in 2019/2020. Both ships will sail identical 7-night cruise itineraries from Dubai within the Gulf.

Royal Caribbean roundtrip Dubai cruises

Royal Caribbean will also be featuring Dubai as a turnaround port when it returns to the Middle East with a new season of roundtrip Dubai cruises aboard Jewel of the Seas in the 2019/2020 cruise season.

Other cruises from Dubai

Twenty cruise ships from fourteen cruise lines will be visiting Dubai in 2019 and 2020, with most of them featuring the city as a turnaround port as part of their re-positioning cruises and grand voyages between east and west:

Phoenix Reisen – Amadea and Albatros

Phoenix Reisen’s cruise ships Amadea and Albatros will both cruise to and from Dubai in 2019. Amadea will depart Villefranche (Nice) on December 23^rd, 2018 on an 18-night voyage to the Middle East, arriving in Dubai on January 10^th, 2019.

This cruise is the first leg of a 144-night world cruise that ends in Bremerhaven, Germany later in the year. The Dubai to Singapore leg, a 21-night cruise, can also be booked individually.

Albatros will also visit Dubai, on April 22, 2018, at the end of a 22-night cruise from Hong Kong. She’ll do a turnaround in the city and then depart on a new 22-night cruise to Genoa.

These two itineraries are part of a grand voyage of 146-nights from Hamburg, Germany to Genoa, Italy, via Central America and Southeast Asia. Both can also be booked individually.

Azamara Club Cruises – Azamara Quest

Azamara Club Cruises’ ship Azamara Quest will cruise from Dubai twice in 2019.

Her first Dubai cruise will be an 11-night roundtrip itinerary exploring the Arabian Gulf, departing Dubai on November 29^th, 2019.

The second Dubai cruise departure is also an 11-nighter, but bound for Mumbai, India, departing December 17^th, 2019.

Hapag-Lloyd – Europa

Luxury German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd will send its boutique cruise ship Europa to Dubai in 2019.

After a 15-night cruise to Dubai from Singapore, she’ll depart Dubai Cruise Terminal on April 25^th, bound for Piraeus (Athens).

Cunard Line – Queen Mary 2

Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2, the largest ocean liner in the world, will cruise from Dubai twice in 2019.

The first, departing January 29^th, is a 21-night cruise to Hong Kong via India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

The second, departing March 25^th, is a 20-night cruise from Dubai to Southampton, UK via the Suez Canal and Mediterranean.

Both cruises form part of Queen Mary 2’s 94-night roundtrip grand voyage from Southampton departing January 10^th, 2019, or the 108-night roundtrip voyage from New York, departing January 3^rd.

Both Dubai legs of the longer cruise itineraries can be booked individually.

AIDA Cruises – AIDAvita

AIDA Cruises will be offering two Dubai cruise departures in 2019 in addition to its 2018/19 winter cruise season in the Arabian Gulf.

On March 31^st, 2019, AIDAvita will departure Dubai on a 16-night cruise to Iraklion in Greece. She’ll return in October for a 20-night cruise from Dubai to Singapore, departing October 28^th, 2019.

Seabourn – Encore and Ovation

Luxury cruise line Seabourn will be offering four Dubai cruise departures in 2019, aboard two of its cruise ships, Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation.

Seabourn Ovation will cruise from Dubai on April 7^th, 2019 on a 20-night voyage to Piraeus (Athens) in Greece. She’ll return to the Middle East again later in the year, cruising from Dubai on December 2^nd, 2019 bound for Singapore, a 19-night voyage that will take her along the coast of India and through Southeast Asia.

Seabourn Encore is also cruising from Dubai in 2019. She will depart the city on May 8^th bound for La Valletta, the capital of Malta.

This 25-night cruise through the Suez Canal and eastern Mediterranean will focus on visiting the ancient empires of history. Seabourn Encore will return to Dubai in November, departing November 8^th from Dubai Cruise Terminal on an 18-night cruise to Singapore.

Silversea Cruises – Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit

Seabourn aren’t the only luxury cruise line sending two ships to Dubai in 2019. Silversea is also cruising from the city with Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit.

Silver Shadow will cruise from Dubai to Piraeus (Athens) in Greece on April 26^th, visiting Khasab, Sur and Salalah in Oman along the way on this 15-night voyage. Ports of call on this cruise also include Safaga in Egypt, Aqaba in Jordan, a transit of the Suez Canal and a visit to Rhodes before arriving in Piraeus.

Silver Spirit will cruise from Dubai later in the year, departing on November 19^th on a short (by Silversea standards) 9-night cruise from Dubai to Mumbai in India, visiting Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, and Muscat along the way. She’ll spend an overnight in Mumbai at the cruise terminal.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises – Seven Seas Navigator and Seven Seas Voyager

Regent Seven Seas Cruises will be cruising from Dubai with two cruise ships in 2019, Seven Seas Navigator and Seven Seas Voyager will both offer Dubai cruise departures, but to opposite parts of the world.

On April 9^th, 2019, Seven Seas Navigator will cruise from Dubai on a 20-night cruise to Civitavecchia (Rome) in Italy via the Suez Canal and Fujairah, Salalah and Safaga in Egypt, before entering the Mediterranean with its rich litany of historic ports.

On November 16^th, 2019, Seven Seas Voyager will call in Dubai and then begin a new cruise itinerary from Dubai to Singapore, a 20-night cruise that visits all the major cruise destinations in India, Sir Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Princess Cruises – Sapphire Princess and Sea Princess

Princess Cruises is offering three cruise departures from Dubai in 2019 aboard two cruise ships.

Sapphire Princess will cruise from Dubai on March 21^st on a 26-night grand voyage from Dubai to Southampton via the Suez Canal and Strait of Gibraltar. She’ll return to Dubai later in the year, departing from Dubai on November 26^th on an 11-night cruise to Singapore.

Princess Cruises’ much smaller Sea Princess (a sister ship to P&O Cruises’ Dubai-based Oceana) will cruise from Dubai in June, one of the less popular months for Dubai cruises.

On June 5^th, 2019, she’ll cruise from Dubai to Dover, a 34-night cruise that is actually a single leg of her longer 106-night World Cruise roundtrip from Auckland, New Zealand.

Fred Olsen Cruise Line – Black Watch and Boudicca

The quintessentially British cruise line Fred Olsen will visit Dubai on Boudicca’s 34-night ‘Ancient Arabia & the Med’ cruise from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Dover in the UK.

Boudicca will be one of the few cruise ships in 2019 only visiting Dubai, rather than using it as a turnaround port as well. She’ll call in Dubai on January 19^th on her way home to Britain.

Fred Olsen’s Black Watch, on the other hand, will do a turnaround in Dubai in 2019.

On February 4^th, Black Watch will cruise from Dubai to Southampton on a 24-night cruise that Fred Olsen says will explore the ancient civilisations and lost cities of Arabia and the Mediterranean. This cruise will form part of Black Watch’s 107-night World Cruise roundtrip from Southampton, but can be booked individually.

Costa Cruises – Costa Luminosa

Costa Luminosa is another of the rare cruise ships visiting Dubai as only a port call and not a departure port.

She will call in Dubai on April 11^th, 2019 during her 112-night World Cruise roundtrip from Venice in Italy.

Dubai is one of ten of the 44 ports of call on Costa Luminosa’s 2019 World Cruise where she will stay overnight in port, giving cruise passengers more time to explore the city and undertake a range of shore excursions.

Oceania Cruises – Nautica and Insignia

Oceania Cruises joins Seabourn and Silversea Cruises with a two-ship line-up for Dubai cruises in 2019.

Oceania Nautica will cruise from Dubai twice in 2019, while Oceania Insignia will cruise just once from the city, on a 22-night cruise from Dubai to Civitavecchia (Rome) in Italy, departing May 13^th.

Oceania Nautica will cruise from Dubai on April 27^th, 2019 bound for Barcelona. The 21-night cruise will be the first of her Dubai cruises during the year.

Nautica will return to the Middle East in December, cruising from Dubai to Cape Town on December 7^th, 2019. The 30-night cruise is undertaken annually and visits all the major cruise destinations in the Indian Ocean and on the South African coast.

TUI Cruises – Mein Schiff 6

TUI Cruises new cruise ship Mein Schiff 6 will visit Dubai on November 11^th, 2019 when she completes a 16-night cruise from Iraklion in Greece to Dubai.

She’ll then depart for Singapore, where she will spend the winter cruising roundtrip from Singapore and Hong Kong.

Marella Cruises – Marella Discovery

Newly re-branded Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is returning to the Middle East in 2019 with Marella Discovery, a year after the cruise line sailed its first ever Arabian Gulf cruise season out of Dubai with Thomson Celebration (now Marella Celebration).

Marella Discovery will offer a Dubai cruise departure on April 11^th, a 14-night cruise from Dubai to Aqaba in Jordan. This cruise is part of her re-positioning voyage from her Asian cruise season during winter to her summer season out of Corfu in the Mediterranean.

Celebrity Cruises – Celebrity Constellation

Celebrity Cruises, homeporting Celebrity Constellation in the Middle East for the coming two cruise seasons, is the only cruise line using Abu Dhabi exclusively as a turnaround port for its Arabian Gulf season, with Dubai included as a port of call only.

This is expected to change in the near future.