Costa will homeport Diadema in Dubai for second year during 2020/21

With strong advance bookings for her inaugural cruise season out of Dubai in 2019/2020, Costa Cruises have confirmed Diadema for a repeat performance during the 2020/21 season, including it’s first-ever 4-night roundtrip Dubai itineraries.

Costa Diadema will homeport in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (offering both cities as an embarkation and end point for its cruises) between October, 2020 and March, 2021. The vast majority of the cruise itineraries will be identical 7-night cruises, but there will also be one shorter 4-night cruise.

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The 4-night cruise will be offered just once, but is being sold as two different itineraries because you can do it roundtrip from Dubai (departing October 20^th, 2020) or Abu Dhabi (departing October 19^th, 2020).

This taster cruise is expected to be more popular with the Middle East cruise source market than the fly-cruise set, who prefer a longer week-long cruise out of Dubai, and will visit Abu Dhabi and Doha in Qatar before returning to Dubai.

On the Dubai departure, Costa Diadema will spend the first night in port in Dubai before spending the following day in Doha, and the day after that in Abu Dhabi, ending the cruise the following day in Dubai.

On the Abu Dhabi departure, Dubai will be the first port of call, with the same overnight in port, followed by a day in Doha, before ending the cruise the following day in Abu Dhabi.

This will be the first time a cruise line homeporting in the Arabian Gulf has offered a cruise of less than 5 nights (apart from MSC Cruises, which sailed a special one-off 1-night itinerary between Dubai and Abu Dhabi during the current cruise season).

Costa Diadema will then commence her season of 7-night roundtrip Dubai cruises, visiting Muscat in Oman, Doha in Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. In both Dubai and Abu Dhabi she will stay overnight in port, while Muscat features a late night departure at 10pm.

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Like her upcoming 2019/2020 cruise season, Costa Diadema will skip Sir Bani Yas Island entirely during the cruise season, replacing it with Doha instead, possibly due to over-capacity on the island with the entry of Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas and P&O Cruises’ Oceana.

Costa Diadema is the largest cruise ship the Italian cruise line has ever homeported in Dubai, carrying a maximum of 4,947 passengers, she is comparative in size and amenities to MSC Splendida, which just wrapped up her last season in Dubai as she will be replaced by MSC Bellissima for the coming season.

With six restaurants and 13 bars and cafes, three pools, eight Jacuzzis, a waterpark, and the first ever lazer tag arena in the Middle East cruise market, Costa Diadema is a massive upgrade for Costa Cruises on the Dubai cruise scene.