Tag Archives: Dubai

Royal Caribbean coming back to Dubai

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By Jerry Limone
Royal Caribbean will return to Dubai in the winter of 2015-16, homeporting the Splendour of the Seas in the United Arab Emirates city.

The 2,076-passenger Splendour will sail 16 roundtrip cruises from December 2015 through March 2016. The ship will call in Abu Dhabi and the Oman cities of Muscat and Khasab.

Royal Caribbean departed Dubai after the 2012-13 winter season, citing decreased demand.

Helen Beck, Royal Caribbean’s regional director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the development of the Cruise Arabia alliance was “a welcome step in continuing to promote the economic and touristic benefits of cruising, and I’m sure the season will be very successful.”

The alliance was formed earlier this month to promote Persian Gulf cruising. The partners in the alliance are Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman.

MSC Cruises to sail to Asia

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MSC Cruises will be making a splash in Asia for the first time ever, when MSC Orchestra sets sail on an all-inclusive voyage from Dubai to Perth next year.

In 2015, the company’s 33-night cruise – departing in February – will stop off in Mumbai and Cochin, India; Colombo in Sri Lanka; Langkawi in Malaysia; Singapore; and Bali, according to Travel Weekly.

The colourful schedule will also take in the best of Australia in the final leg of the month-long cruise, with stops scheduled in Cairns Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle.

Highlighting the emphasis placed on Asia during the voyage, Singapore represents one of two scheduled overnight stops, with Sydney making up the other.

According to the company, there has already been keen interest among passengers in the new itinerary.

Giles Hawke, MSC’s managing director for UK and Ireland, told the news provider: “We have had a number of our past passengers asking for an itinerary which will take them to the Far East and Australia and this gives them exactly what they are looking for.”

Royal Caribbean considers returning to Dubai

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Royal Caribbean considers returning to Dubai

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  • Dubai

A senior executive at Royal Caribbean indicated that the company may reverse course on a decision to remove Dubai from its cruise itineraries.

Royal Caribbean ceases cruises to the Gulf from Dubai this year, which also included stops in Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Fujairah.

“Unfortunately the season we had last year wasn’t as successful as we’d have liked it to be from a revenue perspective, for various reasons – economics, a bit more competition in the marketplace that brought the rates down,” Helen Beck, regional director, EMEA, told Arabian Business.

Beck was hopeful that Royal Caribbean would return to the Gulf in 2014.

“We were all very disappointed, but we haven’t given up the fight,” she added. “There’s a lot of internal lobbying… to have the decision reviewed, maybe not for this coming winter season, but for future seasons.”