Saudi Arabia’s start-up cruise line AROYA Cruises has confirmed there will be no bars or casinos aboard its ships, with designated family, female and male swimming pools and public spaces, reflecting Arabian preferences.

Set to launch in December this year, AROYA is the first cruise brand ever to specifically target the nascent Middle Eastern source market. While the region is a popular cruise destination, the vast majority of passengers boarding ships in Dubai and other GCC ports are fly-cruise tourists.

AROYA will be cruising in unchartered waters, setting out to prove that there is a huge untapped Middle Eastern cruise source market in the region, if it is targetted correctly.

“Everywhere Aroya will operate will be for the Saudis and Saudi families,” said Turky Kari, Aroya’s spokesperson at Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Dubai’s largest travel trade show. “Regardless of Red Sea or the Med, we’re targeting Arabian markets.” 

“Expats are welcome to join, but everything we offer will be remarkably Arabian. Our programming, our food and beverage, are all to match the desires of the local markets. But expats in Saudi or overseas are more than welcome,” he added, refering to the large numbers of foreigners who live and work in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other GCC states.

Although AROYA will initially cruise in the Red Sea, it has plans to deploy internationally to the Arabian Gulf and even the Mediterranean. Wherever its ships are in the world though, they will follow Saudi Arabian laws and regulations.

“We will follow the Saudi laws and regulations. Wherever we are, we will follow the Saudi regulations. We are sticking to the regulations of Saudis,” said Kari.

Alcohol packages, elaborate cocktails, a plethora of bars, and the option of trying ones luck in the casino, are all hugely popular aspects of the modern cruise industry, but AROYA believes there is a local market that has been under-served by the current industry.

“The local source market is not fully utilised, and there is high potential in the future for people locally from the Middle East to take cruises, especially as visas for Europe or the US have made it difficult for them to explore different cruises,” he said. 

“When the cruise lines come here to the GCC or to the Red Sea, they source from their countries,” he added. “What we’re trying to do here is to build awareness, the potential is huge. We know there is a demand, so now we need to build for it,” Kari added.

AROYA Cruises will launch this December in the Red Sea. It’s first cruise ship, Manara, is the former World Dream but has been extensively refurbished to cater to the Middle Eastern market, with single-sex entertainment and relaxation spaces in place of the dozens of bars the ship used to boast.

Manara will feature cigar lounges, jacuzzis, 28 dining options, 20 venues for entertainment, a retail area, and wellness and spa facilities, a Karaoke venue and even an onboard waterpark. 

While not all public spaces will be single-sex, the cruise line will cater to local preferences by offering some all-female pool areas, as well as designated times at which the waterpark and other common areas will be reserved for the use of female passengers.

Aroya’s first cruises in December will last three nights, departing from Jeddah, spending a day at sea and then a private island along the Red Sea coast. Next January, a seven-night cruise along Jeddah, Ain Sokhna in Egypt, Sharm el Sheik and Aqaba in Jordan will also be available. 

Kari said that AROYA is planning to build two more ships – this time new-builds – which will sail in the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Mediterranean. “We want three ships by 2035. We have to study the market very well. The plan is to build the next two [ourselves]. We bought the first ship, but not the next. The three ships will all be in different places globally,” he said.