Six cruise ships docked in Dubai just before the end of 2019, with 60,000 cruise passengers passing through Dubai Cruise Terminal on the busiest day of the 2019/2020 Arabian Gulf cruise season.

In port were TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 5, Pullmantur Cruises’ Horizon, MSC Cruises’ MSC Lirica, Jalesh Cruises’ Karnika, Costa Cruises’ Costa Diadema and Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas.

All six cruise ships are homeporting in Dubai for the 2019/2020 winter cruise season, along with MSC Bellissima and AIDAprima, which weren’t in port as their cruise schedules have them doing a turnaround in Dubai on a Saturday.

Dubai is a major global cruise port and will receive more than 1-million fly-cruise tourists in the coming season

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Celebrity Cruises’ ship Celebrity Constellation is also homeporting in Dubai for the season, but sails longer two-week cruises to Singapore, so isn’t in port as regularly.

With nine cruise ships from eight different cruise lines based in the Arabian Gulf through the winter cruise season, Dubai Cruise Terminal will experience some of its busiest days ever in the coming weeks.

Throughout the upcoming season, Port Rashid will receive five cruise vessels in a single day on 10 occasions and six cruise vessels in a single day on one additional occasion during the season.

Dubai Cruise Terminal 3

Since its inauguration in 2014, Port Rashid’s Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal (Cruise Terminal 3) has received more than 2.3 million visitors, marking a 172 per cent increase towards the end of 2018.

“This is a memorable day for Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal and marks a new peak performance for us in a season of double digit increases in cruise tourist traffic,” said Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Mannaei, CEO – P&O Marinas and Executive Director, Port Rashid. “The flawless handling of more than 60,000 cruise visitors on a single day testifies to the operational efficiencies we’ve put in place.”

Like last year, the coming season will see five cruise ships in port simultaneously on multiple days

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Hamad Bin Mejren, SVP of Dubai Tourism, said the milestone marked a new high point in Dubai’s growth as the leading hub for cruising in the region.

“This milestone is a reflection of how far Dubai has come on its journey to becoming the preferred destination of choice for international cruise travellers and cruise operators alike,” he said.

The 2019/2020 cruise season is expected to welcome more than 200 ship calls, with an estimated one million cruise visitors visiting Dubai.

The season will also see increased efforts to promote cruise tourism in the region by the Dubai Cruise Committee which is comprised of leading industry partners: Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), DP World UAE Region, operator of the Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, Emirates Airlines, The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai, and Dubai Customs.