Carnival’s Costa Brand Pulls Out of Middle East ...

Key Points

• Costa Toscana was set to function a sequence of winter voyages from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
• The Excellence-class ship will as an alternative stay within the Mediterranean.
• Price Cruises attributed the choice to unpredictable circumstances within the area.

Confronted with ongoing geopolitical challenges within the Center East, Costa Cruises has revamped the deployment of Costa Toscana, which was to sail a sequence of voyages from the United Arab Emirates and Dubai throughout winter 2025-26.

As a substitute, the ship will stay within the Mediterranean for the season. Costa Toscana, with a capability for five,300 company in double occupancy and 6,500 with all berths occupied, presently sails the Western Mediterranean with embarkation from a number of ports.

“As a result of presently fluid state of affairs within the Center East, which stays unpredictable for the foreseeable future, Costa desires to supply its company with dependable readability on their trip plans for the upcoming winter season as early as doable,” the cruise line acknowledged.

The cruise sequence was to incorporate 7-night sailings roundtrip from Abu Dhabi, UAE, calling at Dubai, UAE; Muscat, Oman; and Doha, Qatar. Seven-night voyages roundtrip from Doha had been to name at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat.

Moreover, the ship’s fall 2025 and spring 2026 repositioning cruises to and from the Center East homeports are also cancelled. The cruise line has contacted all booked company on the impacted cruises to advise them of the change and supply various choices.

Costa Toscana, an Excellence-class ship that launched in 2021, was scheduled to stay within the Mediterranean till mid-November 2025, earlier than deploying to the Center East.

Underneath the up to date schedule, the ship will proceed to sail the Mediterranean, nevertheless, the cruise line has not revealed or opened on the market any of these cruises but.

The ship is presently working 3-, 6-, and 7-night voyages roundtrip from a number of embarkation ports. Her 7-night crusing from Barcelona on August 26, 2025, for instance, calls at Ibiza, Spain; Palermo, Sicily; Rome and Savona, Italy; and Marseille, France.

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A shorter 3-night getaway from Barcelona to Palermo on September 9, 2025, calls at Ibiza, whereas a 6-night cruise from Rome on September 6, 2025 takes company to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, and Ibiza.

Costa Cruises indicated that Costa Toscana’s up to date fall-winter schedule can be launched quickly.

Canary Islands, Caribbean Are Choices For Winter Cruising

In the meantime, the cruise line, a Carnival Company model, reminded potential company that beginning in December 2025, Costa Fortuna will supply a sequence of Canary Islands voyages from Barcelona, Marseille, and Savona, and roundtrip from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

Potential cruisers seeking to discover the Caribbean can sail on the road’s Costa Fascinosa or Costa Pacifica, each provided with Costa’s “fly&cruise” package deal that mixes air and cruise fares.

A 7-day voyage aboard Costa Fascinosa presents embarkation from Martinique, Guadeloupe, or Santo Domingo, and calls at locations together with Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Dominican Republic.

Costa Pacifica presents a number of longer itineraries. A 15-day cruise roundtrip from La Romana, Dominican Republic, calls at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Barbados; Guadeloupe; Saint Kitts and Nevis; British Virgin Islands; and Grand Turk.

The choice to cancel Center East cruises was not the primary for Costa Toscana. As tensions within the Pink Sea emerged in early 2024, the ship’s 19-night repositioning cruise from Dubai to Italy was cancelled simply six weeks earlier than departure.

The regional unrest, which stemmed from conflicts involving Houthi rebels in Yemen, focused maritime site visitors and triggered a number of cruise traces to cancel cruises or reroute itineraries away from the Pink Sea.

Costa Toscana made her inaugural call to Dubai in late 2022 and remained within the area that winter, cruising between Oman, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.

Carnival’s Costa Brand Pulls Out of Middle East Due to Fluid Situation

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