Cruise fares for every GCC agent

Dubai has two active cruise gateways: Mina Rashid, home to the Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal — described by its operator as the world's largest single, covered cruise terminal, able to berth up to seven mega ships (27,000 passengers) at once — and the newer Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal, opened December 2021 with two passenger terminals and combined capacity cited at over 1.2 million passengers a year. Abu Dhabi's Cruise Terminal at Zayed Port adds a 5,000-passenger hall plus a second terminal from 2022, and Doha Port's Grand Cruise Terminal has dual berths handling up to 12,000 passengers a day. Your cruise line's booking confirmation will confirm which terminal your ship uses.

Broadly October/November through April/May, taking advantage of the region's cooler winter weather. Abu Dhabi's official cruise season is stated as October to May, and Doha Port's peak cruise activity runs November to April — peak comfort, and peak demand, typically falls in December to February.

The UAE runs a dedicated multiple-entry visa for cruise and leisure-boat tourism, arranged through the cruise line or agent as the licensed sponsor rather than an individual application — Dubai's GDRFA calls it the Multiple Entry Permit for Tourists Arriving on Cruise Ships, typically valid for entry within 60 days of issuance and 30 days' multiple use after first entry. Requirements vary by nationality, so please confirm current details with our team at the time of booking.

It depends on the passport. Qatar allows visa-free entry for over 100 nationalities and for all GCC nationals; Bahrain and Oman each run their own official e-visa systems. Because rules differ passport-to-passport and itinerary-to-itinerary, please confirm current details with our team for the specific nationalities and ports on your client's booking.

PSA stands for Preferred Sales Agent. For lines where we hold that status, we carry direct fares, cabin holds and group allocations on the line's behalf, so you quote and book through us rather than the cruise line directly. Where we work on a wholesale basis, we hold negotiated rate access across that line's fleet instead. Either way, you get one Dubai-based point of contact, AED invoicing and a single support desk across all thirteen lines.

Yes — group allocations sit alongside our standard PSA and wholesale fares across the lines we represent, which is one of the main reasons agents building family, incentive or MICE bookings come to us directly rather than to the cruise line. Get in touch with your group size and dates and we'll confirm current allocation and rates.

Expect the cabin, main-restaurant and buffet dining, standard non-alcoholic drinks at meals, and included entertainment and activities to be bundled into the headline fare. Speciality restaurants, alcoholic drinks, premium coffee, bottled water, spa treatments and shore excursions are usually paid extras — exact inclusions vary by line and fare type, so we'll confirm the specifics for your chosen sailing.

Provision varies significantly by cruise line. Royal Caribbean officially confirms halal meat — not a full halal menu — in the main dining room on sailings departing Dubai and Singapore, requested at least 90 days ahead via their Special Needs process. For other lines, please confirm current halal and prayer-facility details with our team before promising specific provision to a client.

October/November through April/May is the broad window, with peak comfort — and peak demand — in December to February. Dubai's coolest months are January and February, with daytime highs around 25°C and overnight lows around 15°C, making that the sweet spot for clients sensitive to heat.

Yes — Gulf homeports such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are well set up for cruise-and-stay itineraries, since both cities operate as circular-tour homeports (guests embark and disembark there) as well as regional and world-voyage calls. Talk to us about combining any of our thirteen lines with pre- or post-cruise hotel nights in the homeport city, or with one of the destinations we represent.