Six cruise ships are understood to have been in the Middle East when US and Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran's subsequent counter-offensive, brought travel to a standstill more than a week ago.
Passengers onboard Celestyal Discovery and MSC Euribia found themselves holed up in Dubai as the missile and drone strikes began, while Celestyal Journey has been confined to port in Qatar's capital Doha.
Celestyal
Celestyal on Monday (9 March) confirmed all guests have now safely disembarked Celestyal Discovery, with the line now working towards disembarking any remaining guests onboard Celestyal Journey "over the next 24 hours".
"Both vessels remain fully operational and ready to sail," said Celestyal, before adding: "Their departure from the region will take place in line with guidance from the relevant authorities."
Celestyal, though, has cancelled two upcoming cruises due to be operated by Celestyal Discovery – a three night Iconic Aegean sailing departing on 20 March and a four-night Iconic Aegean sailing departing on 23 March.
The line said the cancellations came as it finalises operational arrangements for Discovery to reposition to the Mediterranean ahead of the summer season. Guests booked on these departures will be offered a future cruise credit or a full refund.
"We continue to follow developments closely and remain focused on resuming our planned programme as soon as possible," Celestyal added. "We sincerely thank our guests and valued partners for their patience and understanding."
MSC Cruises
Meanwhile, MSC Cruises confirmed to TTG on Monday that "a handful" of UK guests still onboard Euribia were scheduled to fly out of the region "over the next 36 hours".
MSC has been getting guests out of the region over the past few days via a combination of its own charter flights, seats secured on scheduled Emirates and Fly Dubai commercial services, and government-organised flights.
More than 1,500 guests have been repatriated to the UK and several other destinations, including Italy, Germany, Spain, the US and Brazil, via these routes. MSC has so far chartered seven flights out of Dubai.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises' executive chair, said: "I am immensely proud of how the whole company is coming together with this highly complex repatriation operation.
"Our ship command and crew have worked tirelessly to ensure our guests are well cared for and our teams across the globe have worked round the clock to get our guests home safely and in a timely manner.
"We have received unparalleled support from our airline partner, Emirates, as well as the regional and national governments who are supporting us to facilitate the necessary operational logistics and authorisation for the flights.
"We still have some guests on the ship, but we are working hard to secure their safe passage from the region."
