The conflict with Iran this year changed a lot of cruise plans in the Middle East. Almost every major cruise line pulled out of the region and has no scheduled date for coming back.
But one 3,362-passenger ship from a new cruise line just sailed through the Suez Canal on Thursday (September 17) and has no plans of giving up on these waters.
Cruise lines like MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line canceled sailings or moved ships so they could skip the Red Sea and Suez Canal completely. Letters sent to impacted guests cited safety concerns and uncertainty made them decide it just wasn’t worth the risk.
In fact, many ships opted to go the long way, sailing around the southern tip of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.
Despite a flood of cancellations from every other major cruise line, one is still sailing those waters with guests onboard: Aroya Cruises.
Aroya is Saudi Arabia’s first major cruise line. It was launched by Cruise Saudi as part of the country’s Vision 2030 plan to grow tourism.
The cruise line focuses on Arabian hospitality and is aimed mainly at Saudi and Gulf travelers, though it does welcome international guests as well.
Its only ship is the Aroya, a 150,000-gross-ton vessel that can carry almost 5,000 people with both crew (1,600) and passengers combined.
It was built in 2017 as the World Dream for Dream Cruises, bought by the Saudis, and fully refurbished with an Arabian theme before entering service in late 2024. Jeddah is now its main homeport.
Cruise Cancellations from Other Cruise Lines
We’ve covered a bunch of the cancellations as they happened this year. Celestyal had to cancel sailings while its ships were stuck. Explora Journeys canceled its whole Middle East winter season for 2026/27 and sent the ship to Europe instead.
Norwegian canceled the final farewell cruise on Norwegian Sky that was supposed to go through the Suez and Red Sea. AIDA and Costa dropped their full Middle East seasons. MSC Cruises and TUI made big changes and canceled sailings too.
A lot of this goes back to what happened earlier this year. In late February things got worse and the Strait of Hormuz basically closed for many ships. Six cruise ships got stuck inside the Persian Gulf for almost 50 days: MSC Euribia, Celestyal Discovery, Celestyal Journey, Mein Schiff 4, Mein Schiff 5, and Aroya.
Passengers eventually got home. The ships and a small crew just waited.
In mid-April a short window opened, and the ships finally left. We tracked it live (you can read the full update here: Update: All Six Cruise Ships Now Clear or Transiting Strait of Hormuz).
One by one they made it through the strait. Most headed to Europe and the Mediterranean and stayed clear of the Red Sea after that.
Why Aroya is Staying
Aroya is still sailing the Red Sea for a simple reason: that is what the cruise line was built to do. This is home.
And with most sailings traveling right along their own country’s shoreline there is a measure of security there.
After it was the last of the six ships to clear the Strait of Hormuz, Aroya went straight to Jeddah and started short Red Sea cruises with passengers again in mid-May.
Those are mostly 3- to 5-night cruises calling at places like Sharm El Sheikh, Aqaba, and Yanbu. Later it ran a full Mediterranean season from Istanbul that included Suez Canal trips with guests.
Right now, it’s sailing through the Suez again with passengers on its way back to the Red Sea for more Jeddah cruises. The next sailing through the Suez Canal is currently scheduled for June 2027, when the ship will offer 7-night cruises out of Istanbul again.
As a Saudi-backed line, the Red Sea and Jeddah are central to its whole purpose. International cruise lines can easily move their ships to the Caribbean or Mediterranean. Aroya’s mission is tied to the Red Sea, so they aren’t going anywhere.
Read More: Cristiano Ronaldo does commercial for Aroya Cruises
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