With current war operations happening in the Middle East, ocean and river cruise travel has been affected to varying degrees in the immediate and broadening vicinities.
Since ships positioned in the Arabian Gulf could not sail to safer seas without first transiting the commercially closed Strait of Hormuz, which is nearest Iran and the conflict, several vessels were stuck. These included Celestyal Discovery, Celestyal Journey and MSC Euribia. Aroya Manara and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 were also affected in the Arabian Gulf, though these vessels are not sold to North Americans. Now, all six ships have successfully exited the danger zone thanks to a window in which the passage was opened.
Here is a breakdown of the remaining North American-focused brands that are experiencing interruptions in the Gulf and nearby.
Editor's Note: This story was last updated on May 28, 2026.
Celestyal Cruises
According to a statement from Celestyal Cruises, the line has canceled the remainder of its Arabian Gulf season. For Journey specifically, that means the cruises departing March 7, 9, 14 and 16 have been canceled.
“We continue to follow developments in the Middle East and remain in regular contact with the relevant authorities,” the line shared via statement. “Throughout this period, our focus has been and continues to be the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew.”
Guests who were scheduled to travel on the canceled voyages will be offered either a full refund or a future cruise credit.
“We strongly encourage guests to speak directly with their travel provider regarding onward or alternative travel arrangements,” the line said. “We sincerely thank our guests and partners for their patience and understanding during this evolving situation."
In a March 17 announcement, Celestyal added that it was delaying the repositioning of Discovery due to the ongoing conflict. Both ships remained where they were with departures determined "in line with guidance from the relevant authorities."
In addition to the previously announced cancellations of the March 20 (three-night Iconic Aegean) and March 23 (four-night Iconic Aegean) sailings operated by Celestyal Discovery, the line is also canceling the March 27 (three-night Iconic Greek Islands) and March 30 (four-night Iconic Greek Islands) sailings onboard the ship. As of March 24, Celestyal added one more cancellation: the April 3 (three-night Iconic Greek Islands) cruise onboard Discovery. Just a day later, the line also canceled Journey's April 4 sailing (seven-night Heavenly Greece, Italy and Croatia) and extended April 4 itinerary (14-night Mediterranean Icons), as well as Discovery's April 6 departure (four-night Iconic Greek Islands). This has been further extended to a cancellation of all the brand’s cruises for the month of April, as of March 30.
Guests will be offered either a full refund or a future cruise credit.
As of April 17, Celestyal Discovery had exited the area, and as of April 18, Celestyal Journey had done the same. In fact, Discovery was the first of the six ships to leave, "executing a carefully coordinated voyage plan developed in close collaboration with regional authorities and maritime security teams,” according to the line, which added, “this pioneering movement established a safe and proven route through the Strait, enabling other cruise operators to follow.”
Following their successful transits, Celestyal says both Discovery and Journey will reposition to the Mediterranean, where they will begin sailing the upcoming summer season as planned.
Celestyal currently confirms that all future cruises will operate as scheduled. That said, the line has canceled its winter Arabian Gulf season for 2026-27, replacing it with an extension of current Mediterranean routes for both of the fleet’s ships.
“Following a review of our winter deployment, we have decided to focus on strengthening our authentically Mediterranean offering,” said Lee Haslett, chief commercial officer at Celestyal. "As a brand rooted in the region, these updates allow us to add more choice across some of our most popular itineraries and introduce brand-new Western Mediterranean sailings for the first time. We know our guests value Celestyal for our warm hospitality, destination immersion and premium casual approach to cruising, and this extended program will give them even more opportunities to explore the region with us.”
Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises has canceled its 2026-2027 winter season in the Middle East. Instead, Costa Smeralda will navigate weeklong sailings in between the Canary Islands, Spain, and Madeira, Portugal, and Costa Pacifica will deploy on weeklong and extended departures in the Mediterranean.
Explora Journeys
On March 25, Explora Journeys confirmed that Explora III will operate exclusively in the Mediterranean from November 2026 to March 2027, cancelling its originally planned Middle East deployment. All guests and travel advisors with bookings affected by the changes will be contacted directly, according to the line.
MSC Cruises
MSC Cruises’ MSC Euribia was also in Dubai, and its affected cruise had been halted.
“MSC Cruises has been working on the safest and quickest way to repatriate our guests and has taken decisive action to accelerate this by launching a dedicated flight operation that currently includes five charter flights, with the first flight planned to depart March 5,” said the line in a statement online. “These flights would see close to 1,000 guests leave the region by Saturday. In parallel, MSC Cruises is pursuing every available pathway for the remaining guests — including commercial flights, further charter options and coordinated government-assisted solutions."
According to MSC, the situation on Euribia remained calm; guests onboard continued to have access to all onboard services and facilities, as well as regular updates.
In a March 6 update, the line said a total of seven flights carrying guests had departed the region, enabling more than 1,500 guests who were onboard Euribia to depart. These included dedicated charter services "operated at MSC Cruises' expense," seats on scheduled commercial services with Emirates and Fly Dubai and government-organized flights.
All remaining MSC cruises for the Dubai season have been canceled, including those that were set to depart on March 14, 21 and 28. Customers are being compensated.
“All impacted guests are being contacted by the channel through which they made their own booking — either their travel agent or MSC Cruises directly — and will be offered a full refund, with details on how it will be processed,” the line shared.
Additionally, MSC World Europa will shift its originally planned November 2026 to April 2027 Middle East deployment to a Winter 2026-2027 Caribbean season in the French Antilles. With World Europa replacing MSC Seaview during this time, Seaview will redeploy to South America.
MSC Cruises has confirmed that MSC Euribia has departed Dubai and safely transited the Strait of Hormuz. The ship made its way to Northern Europe, according to the line.
"The passage was completed in close coordination with the relevant authorities,” MSC said in a statement.
Since the ship will be able to return sooner than previously expected, MSC confirms that the May 16 departure from Kiel, Germany (and May 17 from Copenhagen), will operate as originally scheduled, and all subsequent voyages will also operate as planned.
MSC further points out that guests from cancelled cruises can transfer their bookings to this sailing if they desire, and they will be contacted with additional details.
River Cruise Lines
Also being affected by the conflict are Egyptian river cruises that depart through March, and possibly later. Avalon Waterways and Tauck have ceased operations in the region for the month, and AmaWaterways has paused its Jordan land extension and Dubai programing for the duration, but not its cruises.
After initially canceling all Nile cruises for March, Viking revised its plans as of March 5 and now says it expects to operate Egypt voyages "as planned" beginning March 12.
