ABU DHABI: The 2015/16 cruise season is set to be Abu Dhabi’s busiest to date, with the new Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal – which will open in the next few months – expecting to welcome 220,000 passengers from 113 ship calls. The new terminal will be located in Zayed Port and offer facilities including 24-hour immigration and customs facilities, banking facilities, tourist information, shops, restaurants, and bus and taxi stands.
MSC Cruises will be the first cruise line to make the new terminal its home, with the 2,550-passenger MSC Musica offering 16 week-long Arabian Gulf sailings out of Abu Dhabi between December 13 2015 and March 26 2016, calling at Khor al Fakkan in Sharjah, Muscat and Khasab in Oman, and Dubai in the UAE.
Meanwhile, Celebrity Cruises has announced it is to homeport in Abu Dhabi in the winter of 2016/17. Celebrity Constellation, the co-flagship of Celebrity Cruises’ 11-strong fleet, will offer guests a choice of sailings of between nine and 14 nights from November 2016 until mid-January 2017, all beginning and ending in the UAE capital.
Royal Caribbean International will return to the Arabian Gulf with 16 roundtrip sailings for its 2,000-passenger Splendour of the Seas from December 2015 to March 2016 on a seven-night itinerary that will also call at Dubai, Khasab and Muscat. It marks Royal Caribbean’s first return to Arabian waters since the line’s withdrawal following a challenging 2012/2013 season.
