5 of the best Middle East cruises to...

As the Middle East cruise market grows, we chart the best itineraries sailing this month

The cruise lines sailing the Middle East this November are Azamara, Seabourn, Costa, Oceania Cruises and MSC Cruises. Here’s a look at the itineraries on offer.

Azamara Quest, Azamara
15 November 2022
11 Nights
The 690-passenger Azamara Quest will sail an 11-night itinerary starting and ending in Dubai, with stops in Muscat in Oman, followed by a return to the UAE for visits to Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas Island.

Seabourn Encore, Seabourn Cruise Line
20 November 2022
17 Nights
Seabourn Encore will take 600 passengers from Athens to Dubai, via Sir Bani Yas Island, on a 17-night cruise called ‘Holy Land & Arabian Gems II’. It visits nine destinations along the way, including Haifa and Jerusalem in Israel, stops that would not have been permissible ahead of entering the UAE before diplomatic relations between the two countries were normalised in 2020. The journey can be extended to a 33-night sailing that makes a second trip to Sir Bani Yas Island before heading on to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia and Singapore.

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Costa Toscana
24 November 2022
22 Nights
Starting in Barcelona and ending in Dubai, the 5,224-passenger Costa Toscana will stop at a total of 13 ports including Valencia, Marseille, Genoa, Corsica (Ajaccio), Rome (Civitavecchia), Palermo (Sicily), Athens (Piraeus) and Haifa (Tel Aviv) before visiting Muscat and Abu Dhabi in the GCC. Options of shorter itineraries and/or later sailings are available.

Nautica, Oceania Cruises
27 November 2022
10 Nights
Oceania Cruises’ 684-passenger Nautica ship will sail a 10-night Middle East cruise departing from Abu Dhabi and visiting Sir Bani Yas Island before concluding its voyage in Dubai. In between, the itinerary also visits Muscat in Oman, Doha in Qatar and Manama in Bahrain, giving guests a comprehensive introduction to the Arabian Gulf.

MSC Opera, MSC Cruises
27 November 2022
7 Nights
The 2,000+ passenger MSC Opera GCC tour will begin and end in Dubai, sailing around Abu Dhabi and Sir Bani Yas Island and then back to the Musandam Peninsula and Muscat in Oman. Passengers can start the cruise a day later from Abu Dhabi.