Cruise Line Halts Sailings as Both Ships Remain Immobilized by Iran Conflict
Key Aspects:
Celestyal Cruises has cancelled the next two sailings of Celestyal Discovery, due to the Iran war.
The line’s two ships, Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey, are in Dubai and Doha, respectively.
Both ships were operating Arabian Gulf itineraries when the conflict began.
As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to escalate, engulfing the Middle East in chaos, another cruise line, Celestyal Cruises, has cancelled two future voyages.
The boutique line’s two ships, Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey, are stuck at the Arabian Gulf ports of Dubai, UAE, and Doha, Qatar, respectively. Like other cruise brands, Celestyal has been unable to move its ships away from the conflict, which began on February 28, 2026.
In a Facebook post on March 9, 2026, the cruise line confirmed that it has cancelled Celestyal Discovery’s next two cruises, a 3-night and 4-night sailing, both scheduled to sail roundtrip from Athens on March 20 and March 23, respectively.
“Given the current situation we have taken the decision to cancel the March 20 (3-night Iconic Aegean) and March 23 (4-night Iconic Aegean) sailings operated by Celestyal Discovery, while we finalize operational arrangements for the ship’s repositioning to the Mediterranean ahead of the summer season,” Celestyal Cruises said in its post.
Guests were being offered full refunds or future cruise credits. The cruise line has not yet announced any cancellations of Celestyal Journey’s upcoming itineraries. Both ships are set to begin their summer series of Mediterranean cruises from Athens.
First Priority: Transporting Guests Home
The cruise line’s priority in recent days has been the safe disembarkation of guests who were onboard the two vessels when the military conflict began. Celestyal Cruises confirmed that all guests had debarked from Celestyal Discovery in Dubai, and the line was working to disembark guests from Celestyal Journey.
According to the post, the disembarkation from that ship was estimated to be completed sometime on March 10, 2026. Celestyal Discovery accommodates 1,360 guests, and Celestyal Journey has a capacity for 1,260.
“We continue to follow developments closely and remain focused on resuming our planned programme as soon as possible. We sincerely thank our guests and valued partners for their patience and understanding,” the cruise line wrote.
Celestyal Discovery’s next scheduled voyage, a 3-night Greek Islands cruise, is set to depart March 27, 2026, while Celestyal Journey’s next cruise is a 7-night Adriatic voyage departing on April 4, 2026. Both are to sail roundtrip from Athens.
Celestyal Cruises bought Celestyal Discovery in 2023 from AIDA Cruises, where the ship operated as AIDAaura. Celestyal Journey was acquired the same year from Seajets. The ship had previously sailed in the Holland America Line and P&O Australia Cruises fleets.
Next Priority: Getting Cruise Ships to Safer Ports
Following the disembarkation of all guests, the cruise line will join other cruise brands in another challenge — attempting to safely sail its ships away from the region.
As reported in Cruise Hive, several cruise ships have been stranded in the Middle East, unable to sail to safe destinations without transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which is at least temporarily closed to shipping.
Among the cruise lines that found their ships in harm’s way as the conflict unfolded was MSC Cruises. The brand’s MSC Euribia was operating its winter season cruises from Dubai when the war began.
The line has since cancelled three 7-night voyages that were to depart on March 14, 21, and 28, 2026. Guests had the choice of embarking on the ship in either Doha or Abu Dhabi. The mega-ship has the capacity to carry 6,300 guests with all berths full. MSC Cruises also had to debark guests from the ship while it was docked in Dubai, and arrange to fly passengers home.
Most recently, Aroya Cruises, a small cruise line based in Saudi Arabia, announced it would cancel all scheduled sailings of its one ship, Aroya, from Arabian Gulf ports for the rest of the 2026 season.
Cruise Line Halts Sailings as Both Ships Remain Immobilized by Iran Conflict