Dubai Cruises

[CruisingFox27]

Just a heads up, P & O have announced today that they will be withdrawing Oceana cruises to/from Dubai due to the issues in the Arabian Gulf for the 2019/20 winter season. All booked cruises from October are now cancelled.

 

The issue in the region is a UK/Iran one and with P&O sailing under a British flag, it may not be sensible to be sailing in the area. So far only commercial tankers have been impacted but the situation could potentially escalate to cruise ships.

 

Hopefully, with MSC ships flagged as Italian/Swiss etc their sailings will be unaffected, as I understand Costa and AIDA aren't. I hope this is the case, we're due to disembark in Dubai March 2020!

Edited August 7, 2019 by CruisingFox27

[Beamafar]

If things escalate, it may impact all cruises in the region.

 

I'd considered doing another one from Dubai next Spring, but the included flights put me off, having experienced getting up during the night of the last onboard day to get the early flight out.  I wasn't pushed enough to check out organising flight independently.

[CruisingFox27]

Indeed they may Bea. With the escalation and/or deterioration in relations between USA and Iran, it's possible.

 

For our itinerary, we'd obviously just need to disembark at another port. I thought the unrest in Hong Kong was my only issue. Still, some months for that to quieten down and another crisis elsewhere to appear. I wonder where we'll curse next 😏😀

 

I wouldn't even consider the middle of the night flight option, that's a too unpleasant way to end the holiday. We haven't yet arranged our flights home from the cruise in question. I think I'll hold off a while....

[Beamafar]

There's no doubt, whatsoever, CF, about that curse!   😱

[CruisingFox27]

Statement from MSC

In light of the breaking news of P&O cancelling its entire Dubai/Arabian gulf programme for Winter 19/20, MSC cruises would like to confirm its commitment to the area and offer reassurance to guests wishing to travel.
 
We will have 2 ships sailing from Dubai for 19/20. MSC Bellissima, the largest & newest ship ever to homeport from Dubai offering 7 night Dubai to Dubai cruises and we also have MSC Lirica offering longer duration cruises of 7 and 11 nights including India. 
 
To ensure guests that wish to sail Dubai this season MSC will be offering the following opportunity to book one of the above or one of our ships from Miami or Barbados with an exclusive onboard credit offering exclusively for affected P&O guests.

 

MSC marketing dept on the ball here! 

[Beamafar]

Sounds reasonably reassuring.

[Zephyr173]

It might be sensible to find a cruise towards Québec or even Montréal (MSC’s Fantasia class and bigger cannot make it to Montréal) !

[CruisingFox27]

20 hours ago, Beamafar said:

There's no doubt, whatsoever, CF, about that curse!   😱

 

No doubt @Beamafar  Edinburgh hit with severe flooding....guess where we went last weekend 😨

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49263508

[G.M.T.]

23 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Just a heads up, P & O have announced today that they will be withdrawing Oceana cruises to/from Dubai due to the issues in the Arabian Gulf for the 2019/20 winter season. All booked cruises from October are now cancelled.

 

The issue in the region is a UK/Iran one and with P&O sailing under a British flag, it may not be sensible to be sailing in the area. So far only commercial tankers have been impacted but the situation could potentially escalate to cruise ships.

 

Hopefully, with MSC ships flagged as Italian/Swiss etc their sailings will be unaffected, as I understand Costa and AIDA aren't. I hope this is the case, we're due to disembark in Dubai March 2020!

Only the Britannia is British flagged (might soon be the first BREXIT), all othe P&O cruise ships are registered / flagged in Bermuda.

[citizenfrank]

52 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

Only the Britannia is British flagged (might soon be the first BREXIT), all othe P&O cruise ships are registered / flagged in Bermuda.

Correct. But they carry the logo on the bow etc. Should be clearly marked as ferries! Ooooops!

[Beamafar]

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

No doubt @Beamafar  Edinburgh hit with severe flooding....guess where we went last weekend 😨

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49263508

 

OMG ... Ripley's Believe it or Not has nothing on you, CF!  I'm at a loss as to which emoji to use here lol.

[hamrag]

8 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

No doubt @Beamafar  Edinburgh hit with severe flooding....guess where we went last weekend 😨

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49263508

 

Thank you for 'inflicting' this on us! Actually, it was very localised and generally nowhere close to being as bad as has been reported....media sensationalism, as ever!

[CruisingFox27]

Hamrag, I'm truly sorry my presence inflicted this on you. I did note an appearance of some sensationalism in the story. I do find this a very frustrating media trait. It was a tongue in cheek post though. We did absolutely enjoy our visit, beautiful city. Although Sunday was very busy, lots of flipping cruise visitors lol! 

 

Unbelievably, Bea I'm actually quite lucky in comparison to a friend who delivers more devastation to anything and anywhere 😥