Norwegian Cruise Line continues to ramp up its Middle East cruise presence with three of its cruise ships sailing from Dubai in the coming two years, including Norwegian Dawn, which will cruise from Dubai twice in 2021.
Norwegian Dawn will join Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Jade in cruising from the Arabian Gulf in the coming two years. Spirit will do so in 2020, while Jade will cruise from Dubai in 2019.
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Like Norwegian Spirit, Norwegian Dawn will cruise from Dubai to Cape Town, but will then do the same cruise itinerary in reverse (Cape Town to Dubai), before cruising from Dubai a second time for Civitavecchia (Rome).
The Dubai to Cape Town cruise will depart February 8th, 2021. The 21-night ‘African Safari and Seychelles’ voyage will first visit Abu Dhabi (where the ship will stay overnight), before heading out to sea from the Arabian Gulf.
The Abu Dhabi to Mahe, Seychelles leg of the voyage will be the longest, with a stretch of five nights and four full days at sea before making port in Port Victoria. Norwegian Dawn will stay overnight here before heading for Nosy Be, Madagascar.
Next up will be Port Louis, Mauritius and Saint-Denis, Reunion before another two days and three nights at sea bound for Richard’s Bay, South Africa.

Norwegian Dawn will stay overnight in Richard’s Bay, giving passengers more time to explore the interior
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Norwegian Dawn will stay overnight here, and will also visit Port Elizabeth and Mossel Bay, before arriving in Cape Town, where she’ll stay overnight on the final evening of the cruise.
Norwegian Dawn will do a turnaround in South Africa’s Mother City and then set off back for Dubai on March 1st, 2021, following almost exactly the same route in reverse (except that Nosy Be is substituted with Muscat in Oman instead).
Also, on this return itinerary, Norwegian Dawn will only stay overnight in Mahe, Seychelles and in Dubai on the final night of the cruise.
On March 21st, 2021, Norwegian Dawn will make her second Dubai cruise departure, a 22-night Wonders of the Mediterranean and Arabia voyage that visits 12 ports on her way to Rome.
On the itinerary are Abu Dhabi, Aqaba, Safaga, a transit of the Suez Canal, and visits to Ashdod and Haifa in Israel, as well as Limassol, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Piraeus (Athens) and Naples before arriving in Civitavecchia (Rome).
For passengers that don’t like long stretches of days at sea, be forewarned that this itinerary doesn’t feature any port calls between Abu Dhabi and Aqaba in Jordan (a full week at sea). But, the ship will stay overnight in Abu Dhabi, giving you lots of time on land to enjoy prior to the voyage.
On this cruise, Norwegian Dawn will also stay overnight in Safaga, Egypt, in addition to Abu Dhabi.
Categories: Middle East Cruise News, SA Cruise News