The British cruise line Fred Olsen is sending Boudicca to the Arabian Gulf in 2020, sailing a 14-night cruise from Dubai to the Cypriot cruise port of Limassol via the Suez Canal and the ancient cities of the Middle East.

Boudicca and her fleet mates Black Watch, Balmoral and Braemar are regular callers to the region, with Black Watch cruising from Dubai in 2019 on a grand voyage to Southampton. On each occasion, thanks to Fred Olsen’s unique vintage cruise proposition, the ship’s hold the distinction of being the oldest to cruise from Dubai on any given year.

Launched in 1973, Boudicca has been fully refurbished and maintained for modern cruising.

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The 2020 season will be no different. Built in 1973, Boudicca is by far the oldest cruise ship departing Dubai that year. Although an old ship by modern standards, she has been faithfully maintained and regularly refurbished to offer a superior, but traditional, cruise experience.

The 14-night Dubai to Limassol cruise departs February 20^th, 2020.

Boudicca’s 14-night Dubai to Limassol 2020 itinerary.

Boudicca will visit Khasab, Muscat and Salalah in Oman en-route to the Red Sea, where she will spend the night in port in Aqaba, Jordan, before transiting the Suez Canal and calling in Ashdod, Israel, the last port of call before Limassol.

This two week cruise is necessarily port-lean, as are all cruises between the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf, but features some of the most historic and exotic ports in the world.

The four-thousand-year-old Aqaba in the gateway to Petra.

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“At each destination, you’ll be within reach of some of the oldest, most famous and best-preserved ‘lost cities’ and holy sites, so every stop will be as rewarding and as fascinating as the next,” Fred Olsen says of the itinerary.

Apart from the three cities visited in Oman, all of which have a history stretching back hundreds of years, a major attraction will of course be Aqaba, Jordan, the gateway to Petra.

The two-thousand-year-old ruins of Petra are the primary allure of this itinerary.

Aqaba itself has been inhabited since 4,000BC and is popular for its beautiful beaches and world-class snorkelling and diving opportunities, while Petra, the impressive archaeological site carved from the sandstone hills more than 2,000 years ago, is just a few hours away by road.

It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and is widely held to be the primary draw of a Mediterranean to Middle East cruise (apart from Dubai and the rest of the UAE of course!).

This 14-night cruise can also be booked as a much longer 28-night voyage all the way back to Dover in the UK. Port calls after Limassol on the longer cruise include Iraklion and Athens in Greece, Malta, Palma De Mallorca, Cartagena and Malaga in Spain, as well as Porto in Portugal.