AIDA Cruises cancels 2025/26 Middle East cruise season on regional security concerns

AIDA Cruises has announced the cancellation of its 2025/26 winter cruise season in the Middle East, citing ongoing security concerns in the region, meaning there will be no cruises from Dubai aboard AIDAprima and no repositioning via Cape Town. 

The announcement affects all sailings scheduled to take place aboard AIDAprima between October 3rd, 2025 and March 25th, 2026, marking a significant redeployment for the line, which has maintained a seasonal presence in the Arabian Gulf for nearly two decades.

The cancellation marks the first winter season since 2006–07—excluding pandemic-related disruptions—without an AIDA ship based in the UAE. 

The line began its Middle East programme with AIDAcara, offering weeklong cruises from Dubai, and has since rotated several vessels through the region, including AIDAdiva, AIDAblu, AIDAstella, AIDAprima, and AIDAnova, its largest class of vessel.

AIDA explained in a statement shared with booked guests, and seen by Cruise Arabia & Africa, that AIDAprima will now be redeployed to Northern Europe and the Atlantic Islands during the affected period. 

“With this decision, the company wants to provide its guests with reliable clarity about their vacation trips in the coming winter season as early as possible. At the same time, the safety of guests and crew is our top priority,” the company said.

“The situation in the Middle East cannot currently be reliably assessed for the foreseeable future,” the cruise line added, underscoring the heightened uncertainty facing cruise operators in the region. 

The move by AIDA Cruises comes amid ongoing tension between Israel and Iran following a short conflict in June, which raised fresh concerns about regional stability amid long-running concerns regarding the Red Sea due to Houthi missile attacks on shipping.

In a cruise industry panel at the Arabian Travel Market 2025 in Dubai earlier this year, cruise executives noted that lines are hesitant to reroute ships around the Cape of Good Hope due to increased fuel costs and extended voyage durations.

AIDA Cruises has, for the past two cruise seasons out of Dubai, re-routed via Cape Town instead of the Suez Canal. However, the latest escalation in tensions between Iran and Israel, culminating in the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran launching missiles at a US military base in Qatar in retaliation, appear to be a step too far for the line.

As part of the redeployment, AIDAprima will operate a new series of itineraries departing from Kiel and Hamburg, calling at ports in the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the Canary Islands. Bookings for the updated sailings are set to open on July 30th, 2025.

Guests affected by the cancellations are being offered rebooking options and a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) worth ten percent of the fare paid.

In addition to changes affecting AIDAprima, AIDA has also cancelled select early 2026 sailings aboard AIDAbella as part of its wider schedule adjustments.