There were Saudi dates, spiced coffee and folk dances. On a single day in February 2023, three Western cruise ships docked in Saudi Arabia at the same time: with almost 9,000 passengers. As many as never before.
The “MSC World Europe” visited the new port of Dammam with 5600 guests. The city is located on a headland on the east coast of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf, northwest of the island nation of Bahrain.
Miami’s Residences at Sea’s ultra-luxury private live-in vessel “The World” anchored on the opposite coast of the country on the same day, in the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea. At the same time, the “MSC Splendida” steamed up with more than 3000 passengers.
The passengers, mainly British, Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians, a few Germans and Americans, either flew for a short visit to Hegra near the clay town of Al-Ula, the most important Saudi UNESCO World Heritage Site, or they strolled through the markets in jiddah.
From Dammam there was a trip to the Al-Asha date palm oasis or a swim at a private beach club by the sea. In the evening we left Saudi territorial waters at full speed and headed out to sea. After a few nautical miles the bar was open again with champagne.
More and more shipping companies have added Saudi Arabia to the Middle East as a new destination. During the Gulf winter season, which runs from November 2022 to May 2023, more than 75 ships from several global cruise lines will have called at the three Saudi ports.
Including the “Amadea” from the German provider Phoenix Reisen. The cruise ship also heads to the Red Sea in May on an Asia-Arabia tour via India and Pakistan, with visits to Saudi Jeddah, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Israel before returning to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
The new Swiss luxury shipping company Explora Journeys is sending its “Explora II” to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf in autumn, with a stop in Saudi Arabia. Michael Ungerer, CEO of Explora Journeys, confirms the importance of these destinations in the Middle East to the industry portal “Seatrade Trade News”: “They are definitely underserved”.
The luxury shipping company Ponant also sees it that way. She is therefore going on an eleven-day tour of the Middle East with the “Le Bougainville” in December 2023 via Bahrain, Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, then on to Dammam in Saudi Arabia. The motto is “Musicals from 1001 Nights”.
Plantours’ “Hamburg” is also cruising through the Middle East on its world trip in spring 2024, with Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
In the 2023/2024 winter season, TUI Cruises is going on short trips through the seas of the Middle East with “Mein Schiff 2” and will stop there – as a premiere – in Saudi Arabia. According to the shipping company, Dammam is firmly planned as a port.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has just presented its new routes for the 2024/2025 season, which can be booked from April. The premiere ports of the “Europa” are Yanbu and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is also targeting the first of many Middle East cruises in 2025, primarily from Haifa, Israel. A seven-day tour on Norwegian Sun cruises from Doha to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia’s Dammam and Manama in Bahrain, a first visit for the world’s largest cruise line.
The contacts are excellent. Since 2020, the Saudis have held a good five percent stake in the cruise company NCL, which also owns Aida Cruises.
The Saudis rely on cruises – and also on their own ships. Cruise Saudi is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The company operates terminals and takes care of incoming tourism, developing shore excursions for cruise guests with local providers.
It has just bought the “World Dream” at auction. The almost unused cruise ship with space for 3370 passengers was for sale after the Chinese shipping company went bankrupt.
The purchase is already considered the “bargain of the year”. While the German shipyard Meyer-Werft delivered the newbuild in 2017 for 960 million euros, according to Arabic media reports, Cruise Saudi was awarded the contract for only 330 million US dollars. The ship was christened with the new name “Manara”, which means “light” in Arabic. It’s a popular girl name.
At the same time, Cruise Saudi is building an ultra-luxury cruise ship in Italy in cooperation with the luxury hotel group Aman Group. Saudi Arabia plans to open a total of five cruise ports by 2028. By 2035, around 1.3 million cruise passengers are expected to be in Saudi ports.
Multi-day round trips through the strictly Muslim country, on the other hand, are not so popular. Guided study trips, such as those offered by FTI, Diamir or Gebeco Reisen, are rarely booked. According to the providers, many customers are interested. But there are few bookings. The human rights record deters many vacationers.
A cautious short visit as a crusader is more appropriate. As British tour operator Responsible Travel sums it up: “Not everyone will want to visit the most repressive country on earth as long as they don’t change their minds.”
The renowned Islamic scholar Guido Steinberg from the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin describes the current situation in Saudi Arabia in the political magazine “Zenith”: “A new, sweeping authoritarianism, which, following the example of the United Arab Emirates, is based on much more extensive surveillance and also severely punishes slightly different political opinions expressed by the Saudis.”
