November 3, 2025 | 09:46 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of cruise ships have finally returned to sail through the Suez Canal in Egypt after two years. The canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea has been avoided by cruise ships for the past two years due to the conflict in Gaza. Now, two cruise ships are scheduled to transit the canal throughout November 2025.
According to Independent, the Greek shipping company, Celestyal, has scheduled two of its ships to cross the canal. They will depart from Piraeus and Lavrio, both serving Athens on the 22nd and 28th of November. This cruise is a "positioning" cruise, transitioning from the summer program in the Mediterranean to the winter season in the Gulf.
The first cruise of Celestyal Journey for one week will stop at Marmaris in Turkey, as well as Port Said at the northern end of the canal. After transiting through the Suez Canal, the ship will stop at the ports of Sharm el-Sheikh and Safaga in Egypt, and end in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Lee Haslett, the chief commercial officer of Celestyal Cruises, said that this will be the first ship to actually carry cruise ship passengers through the Suez Canal in over two years. "We have been working with various government authorities, and we are confident that the region is now very safe to sail. In addition, this is an extraordinary opportunity to visit ports that have not been open for the past two years."
Cruise Ships Without Passengers
Cruise ships have been transiting the Suez Canal since last year, but without passengers. However, Aroya, a Saudi cruise ship, has traveled with passengers.
Crossing the Suez Canal is said to be in high demand by many tourists. Haslett said that the cruise is nearly full after being on sale for several weeks. However, some cabins are still available, starting from £828 or around Rp16 million per person. "These cabins have been sold for more than seven weeks, and we are almost full for the seven-night segment," he said.
He mentioned that this cruise usually stops in Aqaba, Jordan. From this port, tourists would go ashore and visit attractions such as Petra and the Wadi Rum desert. But in this travel plan, Aqaba will not be visited. "We will visit Aqaba, but only on next year's cruise. We had to make some adjustments to the travel plan because we have to reach Jeddah within seven days."
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