November 19, 2027 – December 9, 2027 · 19 nights · 12 stops
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey of Ancient Arabian Mystique & Modern Marvels
The itinerary, port by port
12 calls over 19 nights, Jeddah to Dubai. Open any port for my full day-ashore guide, what to see, when to go, and how the day actually runs.
Getting there: Flights to Jeddah (JED) open around December 2026, about 11 months before you sail. I track that window for booked clients and flag it the moment it is worth booking. When to book your flights →
Jeddah is the Red Sea's historic gateway to Mecca, and its draw is Al-Balad, the UNESCO-listed old town of coral-stone merchant houses with carved wooden lattice balconies. Port guide →
Safaga is a working Red Sea cargo and phosphate port with little to see in the town itself; its entire reason for being on the itinerary is as the gateway to Luxor, roughly three hours inland across the desert. Port guide →
Ain Sokhna is a Red Sea resort town on the Gulf of Suez whose real value is geographic: it is the closest cruise port to Cairo, roughly 140 km away. Port guide →
Sharm El-Sheikh sits at the southern tip of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where desert meets the Red Sea over some of the richest coral reefs on earth. Port guide →
Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport, a Red Sea resort town that exists on the cruise map for one reason: it is the closest harbor to Petra, the Nabataean rock city carved into rose-colored sandstone. Port guide →
6
Jabal Al-Sabaya
Jabal Al-Sabaya is Saudi Arabia's first private cruise island, a Red Sea beach resort called Saba Beach that opened in December 2024 about 220 nautical miles south of Jeddah near Al Qunfudhah.
7
Jizan
Jizan is Saudi Arabia's far-southwestern Red Sea port, the regional capital sitting about 60 km from the Yemen border and roughly 40 km across the water from the Farasan Islands.
Salalah is the capital of Oman's Dhofar region and the historic heart of the frankincense trade, a coast that a summer monsoon turns green while the rest of Arabia stays desert. Port guide →
Khor Fakkan is a Sharjah enclave on the UAE's east coast, facing the Gulf of Oman with the Hajar Mountains rising directly behind a curved bay. Port guide →
Khasab sits at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, an Omani exclave of sheer ochre cliffs dropping into the Strait of Hormuz, the reason it gets called the Norway of Arabia. Port guide →
Dubai is the engineered superlative of the Gulf: the world's tallest building, vast malls, man-made islands. Port guide →
Fares on this departure, decoded
Reading the fare fine print is the job. Here's what this sailing currently carries:
Founders Fare
A founding-era fare on a selected set of sailings. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
Invitation to Discover More
Explora's discovery fare, available across most of the calendar. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
Early Booking Benefit
A fare for booking far enough ahead of departure. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
The ship and your suite
This sailing is aboard EXPLORA I, all-suite,
every suite with a private ocean-front terrace. Suites run from the entry Ocean Terrace to the Owner's
Residence; the right tier depends on how you travel.
Compare suites → · What's included →
Send me the dates and the suite tier you have in mind and I'll come back with a confirmed live number and my read on the sailing within two hours. Best available price, and I make it worth more.