Marella cancel Discoverys call at Dubai

Having just booked a regular customer of mine the last cabin on Marella Discovery’s respostioning cruise from Naples to Dubai for November this year, I was surprised to receive notification within days that they have now made the decision not to visit Dubai and Port Rashid due to the worries with sailing through the Straits of Hormuz as tensions in the Arabian Gulf remain high.

The ship will now sail to Fujairah on the other side of the United Arab Emirates and free shuttles will be used to transfer passengers to Dubai. This is now a 90 minute Journey instead of being able to come and go quite easilyduring the day and night from the orginal destination of Port Rashid for the overnight port of call.

In the notification it says they have taken the decision due to safety and security of passengers and crew. I find it a little convenient that they have only just decided to make this decision now the cruise is full or is that just me being a bit cynical?

P&O have also pulled out of sailing from Dubai this winter with the same safety concerns but that was back in August.

With many other cruise lines due to sail the Arabian Gulf during the Winter months Im wondering are we going to see more of this happening or is this just a concern for UK guests?