AROYA Cruises confirms December launch in Red Sea despite security crisis

AROYA Cruises has comitted to its December launch date in the Red Sea, despite the ongoing security crisis in the region that has prompted many cruise lines to sail around southern Africa instead.

During the Arabian Travel Market 2024 in Dubai, Turky Kari, Executive Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at AROYA Cruises, said once its first ship sets sail in December, it will go through the Red Sea.

“We are very confident and all Red Sea authorities and the Saudi government support this 100 per cent,” he said during a cruise-focused session at the ATM conference. “There are still a lot of ships in the region, and they’re all operating successfully and safely,” he added. 

Kari also added that the Red Sea is “very big”. It should be noted that while the attacks on shipping by Houthi rebels in Yemen are concentrated around the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, AROYA Cruises will initially be sailing in the northern Red Sea, around 1,000 kilometres from the hotspot.

Its first cruises will be three nights, departing from Jeddah and then spending a day at sea followed by a call to a private island along the Red Sea coast. 

A seven-night cruise will follow in January, taking in Jeddah, Ain Sokhna and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, and Aqaba, Jordan. 

AROYA also has plans to cruise across the Gulf and the Mediterranean, although future plans to cruise in the Arabian Gulf would require a transit through the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, and so would have to wait until after the security situation is resolved.

Aroya comes under the management of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s cruise company, Cruise Saudi, but is 100% independantly managed and operated. 

AROYA Cruises purchased the former World Dream and has fully refurbished her in Europe prior to her December introduction in Jeddah.

The cruise line plans to launch two more cruise ships within 10 years, as well as add seven new ports by 2030 and reach 1.3 million passengers per year.

On the sidelines of ATM 2024, Kari said that although the cruise line is exclusively targetting Middle Eastern passengers who want a cruise brand that caters to their specific tastes, all will be welcome onboard.

“Expats are welcome to join, but everything we offer will be remarkably Arabian,” he said. 

“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,” Kari added, refering to the large numbers of foreigners who live and work in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other GCC states.