The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has forced several major cruise lines to cancel sailings and reroute ships, leaving vessels stranded in Gulf ports and thousands of travelers scrambling to make new plans.

Celestyal Cruises, the Athens-based cruise line known for its Greek Islands, Arabian Gulf, and Red Sea itineraries, announced on Sunday (March 30) that all of its April 2026 departures have been canceled. The decision comes after two of its ships — Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey — became stranded in Gulf ports following the disruption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Celestyal Discovery is currently docked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Celestyal Journey remains in port in Doha, Qatar. Both ships are unable to return to the Mediterranean because the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway between the Arabian Gulf and the open ocean, located nearest to Iran — has been commercially closed since the start of the conflict.

In a statement, Celestyal Cruises said: "Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, we have been unable to reposition our ships, Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey, back to the Mediterranean. As a result, following careful consideration, all departures scheduled for April 2026 have been cancelled."

The company added: "Our priority remains the safety and confidence of our guests, crew and partners, while ensuring sufficient time and flexibility for any necessary changes to travel plans. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will resume movement of our vessels as soon as it is safe to do so."

Lee Haslett, Celestyal Cruises' Chief Commercial Officer, acknowledged the impact on passengers, saying: "While we know this will be disappointing, making this decision now provides greater clarity and flexibility for those affected." Guests with canceled bookings will be offered a full refund or a future cruise credit.

Celestyal is not alone. Several other ships are also stuck in the Arabian Gulf, including the MSC Euribia, TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5, and Aroya Manara.

MSC Cruises has already moved to compensate. The line evacuated more than 1,500 guests from the MSC Euribia using charter flights — operated at its own expense — as well as commercial services and government-assisted flights. MSC has also canceled its remaining Dubai season sailings and announced that its MSC World Europa will be redeployed from its originally planned Middle East season to a Winter 2026–2027 Caribbean itinerary in the French Antilles, with embarkation ports in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Barbados.

Explora Journeys has also canceled its Middle East cruises for the winter 2026–2027 season, pivoting instead to the Mediterranean. Costa Cruises has similarly scrapped its 2026–2027 Middle East winter season, rerouting Costa Smeralda to the Canary Islands, Spain, and Madeira, Portugal.

River cruise lines have also been affected. Avalon Waterways and Tauck have paused operations in the region, and AmaWaterways has suspended its Jordan land extension and Dubai programming. Viking, after initially canceling all Nile sailings for March, revised its plans and says it expects Egypt voyages to operate as planned.

Looking ahead, Celestyal Cruises says it hopes to resume operations with a three-night 'Iconic Greek Islands' voyage aboard Celestyal Discovery on May 1 and a seven-night 'Heavenly Greece, Italy and Croatia' sailing aboard Celestyal Journey on May 2 — but whether those sailings will proceed depends heavily on how the conflict develops.

Ron Wilson

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