The resumption of cruises from Barcelona and Athens is now available for booking by UAE passengers, after both Spain and Greece agreed to quarantine travel for vaccinated UAE residents.

Spain is the latest European country to welcome back tourists, bringing to 19 the total number of global destinations from which UAE residents can go cruising without having to quarantine.

Barcelona, Spain

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From June 7th, UAE tourists will be able to enter Spain if they have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days before date of travel, or can present their Covid-19 PCR tests taken 48 hours prior to arrival.

This comes on the heel of Cyprus last month opening its doors to vaccinated UAE residents, meaning that Royal Caribbean’s cruise season aboard Jewel of the Seas from Limassol is now available for booking.

Jewel of the Seas’ cruises from Cyprus feature six ports of call in the Greek Isles, and because Greece has also reopened to UAE tourists, you’ll be able to disembark the ship and enjoy various shore excursions.

With Spain and Greece now also open to UAE residents, however, a whole world of cruise itineraries is available for booking as the cruise industry resumes operations and gets back on its feet after an incredible difficult year.

Celebrity Cruises’ brand new Edge-class cruise ship Celebrity Apex is homeporting in Greece for the summer, 2021. She’ll sail roundtrip from Piraeus (Athens) on 7-night voyages visiting the Greek Isles and Israel (where UAE residents wont yet be able to go ashore due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions).

Also homeporting in Piraeus (Athens) are Silversea Cruises, Seabourn, MSC Cruises, Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Celebrity Apex

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With the addition of Spain to the quarantine-free travel list for UAE residents, 227 cruise itineraries are available to UAE cruise passengers in 2021 alone.

Royal Caribbean will be homeporting Harmony of the Seas in Barcelona for the summer, 2021, while Costa Cruises will be cruising roundtrip from Barcelona aboard its new mega ship Costa Smeralda.

Norwegian Cruise Line will homeport its newly-refurbished Norwegian Epic in Barcelona later this year, sailing 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises.

MSC Cruises is also in the line-up, with MSC Grandiosa cruising roundtrip from Barcelona alongside her fleetmate MSC Seashore, one of the most advanced cruise ships in the MSC fleet.

Harmony of the Seas

Later in the year, Seabourn, Viking Ocean Cruises and more will also be homeporting in the city.

For those booking fly-cruise packages from Spain, travelers will need to physically provide their vaccination certificates upon arrival, and must have received vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or one of the vaccines included in the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing.

These vaccines include the Pfizer BioNTech, Sinopharm and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines. Unvaccinated children under the age of six will be allowed entry together with their vaccinated parents. Children over the age of six must present a negative PCR test.