Middle East Crisis 2026: TUI Cruises Completely Cancels Orient Routes

The safety of the guests and crew was the absolute focus of the rapid response. In a remarkable logistical achievement, TUI Cruises safely evacuated more than 5,000 passengers from the crisis zone. Since key maritime and air routes—including the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal—are effectively blocked, numerous special flights were organized from ports like Abu Dhabi and Doha in close cooperation with authorities to bring vacationers home.

For the shipping companies, this situation represents a massive financial burden. The ships must now take the weeks-long and highly expensive detour via the Cape of Good Hope around Africa without paying guests to return to European waters in time. At the same time, skyrocketing fuel prices and massively increased insurance premiums are creating rough seas on the international financial markets.

To limit the financial damage for everyone involved and to accommodate vacationers, TUI Cruises is relying on a flexible voucher model that includes discounts for new bookings. Other providers, such as AIDA Cruises, had already completely withdrawn from the region much earlier. In the long term, cruise tourism is likely to change noticeably as a result of these events: In the future, fleets will probably concentrate more heavily on geopolitically safer waters such as Europe or the Caribbean.