UAE and wider Arabian Gulf cruise sector stable despite AIDA Cruises cancellation

Despite the withdrawal of German cruise line AIDA Cruises from the UAE for the upcoming 2025/26 Middle East winter season, other operators with Gulf-only itineraries remain committed to Dubai as a homeport.

AIDA Cruises announced last week that it would cancel all planned sailings of AIDAprima in the Arabian Gulf next season, citing regional safety concerns, affecting both roundtrip voyages from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as repositioning cruises scheduled for autumn 2025 and spring 2026.

“In the routings of what MSC, Costa, and Celestial currently have within the Arabian Gulf that is purely touching only the GCC countries, I don’t see a concern there,” said Dominic Noranho, Regional Manager for Sales and Marketing at Cruise Master, speaking to The National.

While the security situation in the Red Sea has impacted several global cruise deployments, including Seabourn and Holland America Line, the core of the UAE’s cruise industry relies on shorter itineraries confined to Gulf ports, avoiding the Suez Canal altogether.

This has led to a nominal increase in cruise fares, but has not dettered customers, with the Arabian Gulf remaining a popular cruise destination among passengers, with cruise executives at Arabian Travel Market 2025 noting its upward potential.

“Most of the cruise lines deploying their ships here in the Middle East have stopped sailing via the Suez Canal, and they are coming all the way around Africa,” Noranho said. “It’s quite natural when the operational costs go up, the ticket cost also would go up, but that has not led to customers shying away.”

According to Noranho, 95 per cent of passengers boarding in the UAE fly in from overseas, and are unlikely to be deterred by geopolitical developments. “Generally, geopolitical issues are something that does not affect the attitudes of passengers cruising from this part of the world,” he said.

Cruise lines such as MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises are expected to proceed with their seasonal deployments to the UAE, with itineraries focused on Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Muscat. These closed-loop Gulf cruises remain unaffected by instability further west.

Dubai’s position as a regional cruise hub continues to strengthen. The Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal welcomed 300,000 passengers in the most recent season, according to figures from the Dubai Media Office. 

The cruise industry has become a key component of the UAE’s tourism economy, with more than 150 cruise ships calling each winter.

“For all cruise lines, the utmost priority is safety of the crew and the passengers, they will not jeopardise it in any way,” Noranho added, noting that the regional cruise sector is more vulnerable to insurance costs than geopolitcal issues themselves. 

“On a commercial perspective, the insurance costs are going to be really high for them to operate when it comes to such scenarios,” he said.

AIDA Cruises, meanwhile, has redeployed its vessels to Northern Europe and the Canary Islands. 

With bookings for Gulf cruises typically peaking in mid-September, Noranho noted it was still too early to gauge whether AIDA’s decision would have a knock-on effect. However, for now, the broader outlook for the UAE’s 2025/26 cruise season appears stable.