Aroya Starts First Winter Med Season From Istanbul

Aroya Cruises has launched its first winter season in the Mediterranean, basing the 3,400-passenger Aroya at Istanbul's Galataport Cruise Terminal for a series of seven-night cruises to Turkey and Egypt.

The 150,000-ton vessel arrived in Istanbul in early October after a short fall season in the Red Sea. The deployment marks a structural shift for the Saudi-backed operator, which until now has centered its operations on Jeddah.

What does the winter program include?

The seven-night itineraries call at Marmaris and Kusadasi in Turkey. Each sailing features two-day calls in Alexandria, giving passengers time to venture beyond the port into other parts of Egypt.

Aroya is also applying its interporting strategy (allowing embarkation at intermediate ports rather than only the homeport) to the new routes. Guests can board the ship in Alexandria as well as Istanbul, widening the catchment for Egyptian source traffic and giving agents in both markets sellable inventory.

The company will run similar itineraries through May 2027, when the vessel transitions to a summer deployment with additional destinations.

Where does the ship go next?

The summer 2027 program adds more ports in Turkey and Greece: Bodrum, Antalya, Kas, Chania, Rhodes and Nafplion.

The season also marks Aroya Cruises' debut in the Western Mediterranean and the Adriatic. Two 14-night voyages sail roundtrip from Istanbul in June and July 2027.

The first spans the Mediterranean from east to west, calling at Catania, Salerno, Civitavecchia, Cagliari, La Goulette, Mykonos and Valletta, covering Turkey, Greece, Tunisia and Malta.

A second two-week voyage in July 2027 calls in Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Italy and Croatia, with ports including Katakolon, Sarandë, Bar, Trieste, Zadar, Korčula and Bari. That itinerary puts Aroya into direct competition with established Adriatic players during peak season.

What happens after the Med year ends?

The Aroya concludes its 11-month season in the region with a repositioning voyage back to the Red Sea in early September 2027. The ship then returns to its original homeport in Jeddah, offering short cruises to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt through the end of 2027.

For sellers of travel, the deployment creates a nearly year-round Eastern Mediterranean product with a dual-embarkation model in Istanbul and Alexandria, ahead of the operator's first push into Western Med and Adriatic waters.