AIDA Cruises cancels Middle East winter 2027/28 cruise season

AIDA Cruises has cancelled its planned Middle East deployment for winter 2027/28.

The decision comes more than a year before the season was due to begin, with the cruise line citing uncertainty over the Arabian Gulf region when planning its future itineraries.

AIDA Cruises said it had taken the decision early to provide planning certainty for both guests and travel partners, adding that it is currently unable to reliably assess conditions in the region for the 2027/28 winter season.

Passengers booked on the affected sailings will have their cruises cancelled and will receive a voucher equivalent to 10 per cent of the original cabin fare. The voucher can be used towards a new booking made by December 31st, 2026.

The cruise line is encouraging affected passengers to consider alternative winter itineraries in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands or Northern Europe.

From Hamburg, AIDA will offer cruises to Norway, the Benelux countries and along Europe’s Atlantic coast to the Canary Islands. AIDAperla is scheduled to operate Northern Europe itineraries from Kiel, while shorter Scandinavian cruises will also be available from Warnemünde.

The company said further details of its revised deployment will be released at the end of July, when the new itineraries open for bookings.

The latest announcement follows a similar decision earlier this year, when AIDA cancelled its planned winter 2026/27 programme in the Middle East.

That deployment was due to feature AIDAprima sailing roundtrip in the Arabian Gulf before the vessel was reassigned to European itineraries from Kiel.

The decision means AIDA will now be absent from the Middle East for a second consecutive winter season.

The Middle East has traditionally been an important winter deployment region for several European cruise lines, with itineraries centred on ports in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

However, several operators have revised their plans in recent years in response to regional security concerns following the March, 2026 conflict between the US and Iran.

Despite recent exchanges of fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the ceasefire between the United States and Iran remains in place.

While delegations from both countries are in the region, officials have said no direct high-level talks are planned, and negotiations on longer-term issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved.