The cruise industry in the Arabian Gulf continues to suffer the effects of a military conflict that started earlier this year.

After leaving six cruise ships stranded in the region for approximately two months, the instability in the region also led to widespread itinerary cancellations.

Cruise Industry News research shows that all cruise lines that were planning regular sailings in the region have now cancelled their plans for both 2026-27 and 2027-28.

TUI

TUI Cruises cancelled its 2026-27 season in the Arabian Gulf in April, redeploying the Mein Schiff Flow to Northern Europe.

While the company was expected to announce a return to the region in 2027-28, plans did not materialize and none of TUI’s vessels are currently scheduled to sail in the Middle East.

MSC

MSC Cruises cancelled its plans for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 winter seasons in the Arabian Gulf.

The MSC World Europa was scheduled to offer itineraries to the UAE, Bahrain and Doha during both seasons.

After the cancellations, MSC promoted a series of updates to its planned deployments, increasing capacity in other regions, including South America and the Caribbean.

Explora

Explora Journeys cancelled its 2026-27 season in the Arabian Gulf earlier this year, announcing plans to move the Explora II to Europe.

More recently, the luxury brand cancelled its plans for the Middle East in 2027-28, which included itineraries in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf.

As a result, Explora is expanding its operations in the Mediterranean and South America during that timeframe with additional sailings of the Explora V and the Explora I, respectively.

Costa

Costa was one of the first cruise lines to drop its plans for the 2026-27 winter season in the Middle East, announcing the cancellation of all itineraries in the region in mid-March.

Originally set to operate in the Arabian Gulf, the Costa Smeralda will take over the Canary Island itineraries of the Costa Pacifica, which will reposition to the Mediterranean.

With most of its itineraries for that timeframe published, the company is not currently planning to return to the Middle East in 2027-28.

AIDA

AIDA cancelled both its 2026-27 and 2027-28 winter seasons in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf earlier this year.

The company initially dropped plans to have the AIDAprima in the region this winter, moving the vessel to Northern Europe and the Canary Islands.

A few months later, the German brand decided to redeploy the AIDAperla from the Middle East to Northern Europe and Scandinavia in 2027-28.

Celestyal

Celestyal also dropped plans for future sailings in the Middle East, replacing its seasons in the region with new itineraries in the Western and Eastern Mediterranean.

The Celestyal Journey and the Celestyal Discovery were scheduled to offer itineraries in the Arabian Gulf in 2026-27 and 2027-28.

Instead, the ships will offer extended deployments in Europe, with new cruises visiting destinations such as Istanbul in Turkey, Lisbon in Portugal and Tarragona in Spain.

Aroya

Aroya Cruises was the latest brand to replace its 2026-27 cruises in the Arabian Gulf with new itineraries elsewhere.

Earlier this month, the Saudi-based company announced plans to offer a full winter season in the Mediterranean, with the Aroya sailing from Istanbul between October 2026 and April 2027.

While planned itineraries in the Arabian Gulf will no longer go ahead, Aroya is set to operate fall seasons in the Red Sea in 2026 and 2027. The company’s itineraries in the region sail from Jeddah and visit destinations in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.