Celebrity Cruises is the second cruise company to drop voyages in the Arabian Gulf.
The cruise liner Celebrity Constellation had scheduled itineraries to India from homeport Dubai in 2020-2021 but instead will be homeported in Tampa Bay Florida to operate two Caribbean itineraries plus one South American. Celebrity’s India and Dubai cruise program for winter 2019-2020 is still available for booking.
Last week, P&O Cruises UK pulled its Dubai & Arabian Gulf 2019-2020 winter program amid rising tensions with Iran. The cruise line said it had sought advice from “external authorities” after monitoring the friction between the West and Iran prior to deciding to scrap the program in the region.
In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized Stena Impero, a British-flagged oil tanker, in the Strait of Hormuz, that lies between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
Celebrity Cruises said it had made the decision to redeploy Constellation because of demand from the trade and passengers to return to Tampa FL and is protecting agent commission on canceled bookings. According to company's President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, their guests and travel advisors had been asking them to return to Tampa FL since their last call there back in 2007.