The Israel-Hamas conflict continues to reverberate across the regional cruise sector impacting Norwegian Cruise Line’s Dubai departure and Celestyal Cruises port calls in Israel.

Norwegian Cruise Line has dropped a port call in Saudi Arabia in December for its Dubai departure, and Celestyal Cruises has cancelled Israeli port calls through the end of the year.

Norwegian Dawn, departing Dubai on December 13th, 2023 for a 7-night cruise to Doha, Qatar, will no longer call in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, as a result of concerns of regional escalation of the conflict.

“As a proactive measure in response to recent developments in the region, we have cancelled our call to Dammam, Saudi Arabia,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a letter to passengers. 

“We understand that itinerary changes can be frustrating, so we offer our genuine apologies for any disappointment this may cause,” the cruise line added.

Dammam was to have been the last port call of the 7-night “Middle East: Saudi Arabia & UAE” sailing, and no other port calls on the itinerary have been affected.

Norwegian Dawn will still visit Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Manama in Bahrain as planned, but because the ship will no longer be docking in Dammam, it will now arrive in Doha, Qatar at 5 p.m. on December 19 rather than 6 a.m. the next morning.

The early arrival and overnight stay will give passengers a chance to explore the port more closely and new evening excursions for Doha will also be arranged and made available for purchase.

“While we share your disappointment, this modification was made with great consideration to preserve the guest experience while prioritizing your safety, and that of our crew,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement.

The cruise line did not elaborate on what recent developments or new information it was basing its decision on. 

Celestyal Cruises meanwhile has cancelled all December sailings to Israel in response to guest and partner feedback and due to an increase in customer cancellations.

The cruise line previously suspended calls into the Israeli port of Ashdod until the end of November, but has now confirmed that all sailings to Israel are being cancelled through the end of the year.

Guests who booked the canceled itineraries will get a 100 percent refund and a 25 percent discount on any future sailing booked and departing before December 31st, 2024. 

These latest developments come after every major cruise line cancelled cruise to and from Israel, as well as all port calls in the country in response to the outbreak of the conflict, which has had a devastating impact on civilians in the Gaza Strip and heightened tensions in the region. 

Windstar cancelled its planned cruise season in the Arabian Gulf out of Dubai for November to March, while MSC Cruises cancelled its homeporting cruise season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from which it was going to spend the winter sailing in the Red Sea.

While Dammam has thus far only been dropped from Norwegian Dawn’s December 13th departure, it is possible that her other itineraries will also be changed.

The ship is sailing several alternating itineraries departing Dubai and Doha, that include Dammam as a port of call through the end of December, before she repositions to South Africa.