Explora II had been scheduled to visit the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE, including overnight stays in Jeddah and Dubai.
A major selling point for the planned deployment was New Year’s Eve in Dubai, which would have seen guests enjoy a fireworks display set against the city backdrop.
However, the luxury cruise line’s second ship will now operate in the Mediterranean from November 2026 to March 2027, the line confirmed on Wednesday (25 March). Full new itineraries will be released by the end of the month.
"This decision has been taken well in advance following careful consideration and reflecting Explora Journeys' commitment to providing guests and travel advisors with clarity and confidence as they plan their future Journeys,” said the line in a statement.
The revised season will now see the ship sail the Western Med and Atlantic Islands, stopping in Casablanca, Funchal, Ibiza and Barcelona. The updated itineraries will also focus on “slower-paced” European and North Africa exploration.
Explora Journeys has promised to contact all guests and travel advisor partners who have reservations on these adapted voyages. It comes as the US and Israel's war in Iran continues to rage nearly a month on from their initial strikes.
Tate Husband, Explora Journeys’ recently-appointed executive director for the UK and Ireland, recently opened up to TTG about his plans for the brand to work more closely with the trade.
“The importance of travel agents is absolutely paramount,” he said. “In cruise, we still have this balance between direct business versus agency business. Hotels, for years and years and years, have always tried to shift that balance to have a little bit more of a 50:50 split.
"Hotels spend huge amounts of money on their own websites to try and get business coming through direct. That agency business is crucial, because of the level of distribution agents have with the databases they're currently working with."
