Key Aspects
- Costa Toscana was set to operate a series of winter voyages from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
- The Excellence-class ship will instead remain in the Mediterranean.
- Cost Cruises attributed the decision to unpredictable conditions in the region.
Faced with ongoing geopolitical challenges in the Middle East, Costa Cruises has revamped the deployment of Costa Toscana, which was to sail a series of voyages from the United Arab Emirates and Dubai during winter 2025-26.
Instead, the ship will remain in the Mediterranean for the season. Costa Toscana, with a capacity for 5,300 guests in double occupancy and 6,500 with all berths occupied, currently sails the Western Mediterranean with embarkation from multiple ports.
“Due to the currently fluid situation in the Middle East, which remains unpredictable for the foreseeable future, Costa wants to provide its guests with reliable clarity on their vacation plans for the upcoming winter season as early as possible,” the cruise line stated.
The cruise series was to include 7-night sailings roundtrip from Abu Dhabi, UAE, calling at Dubai, UAE; Muscat, Oman; and Doha, Qatar. Seven-night voyages roundtrip from Doha were to call at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat.
Worth Reading: Costa Cruises Cancels All Asia Homeport Cruises
Additionally, the ship’s fall 2025 and spring 2026 repositioning cruises to and from the Middle East homeports also are cancelled. The cruise line has contacted all booked guests on the impacted cruises to advise them of the change and offer alternative options.
Costa Toscana, an Excellence-class ship that launched in 2021, was scheduled to remain in the Mediterranean until mid-November 2025, before deploying to the Middle East.
Under the updated schedule, the ship will continue to sail the Mediterranean, however, the cruise line has not revealed or opened for sale any of those cruises yet.
The ship is currently operating 3-, 6-, and 7-night voyages roundtrip from multiple embarkation ports. Her 7-night sailing from Barcelona on August 26, 2025, for example, calls at Ibiza, Spain; Palermo, Sicily; Rome and Savona, Italy; and Marseille, France.
A shorter 3-night getaway from Barcelona to Palermo on September 9, 2025, calls at Ibiza, while a 6-night cruise from Rome on September 6, 2025 takes guests to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, and Ibiza.
Costa Cruises indicated that Costa Toscana’s updated fall-winter schedule would be released soon.
Canary Islands, Caribbean Are Options For Winter Cruising
Meanwhile, the cruise line, a Carnival Corporation brand, reminded prospective guests that starting in December 2025, Costa Fortuna will offer a series of Canary Islands voyages from Barcelona, Marseille, and Savona, and roundtrip from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.
Prospective cruisers looking to explore the Caribbean can sail on the line’s Costa Fascinosa or Costa Pacifica, both offered with Costa’s “fly&cruise” package that combines air and cruise fares.
A 7-day voyage aboard Costa Fascinosa offers embarkation from Martinique, Guadeloupe, or Santo Domingo, and calls at destinations including Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Dominican Republic.
Costa Pacifica offers several longer itineraries. A 15-day cruise roundtrip from La Romana, Dominican Republic, calls at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Barbados; Guadeloupe; Saint Kitts and Nevis; British Virgin Islands; and Grand Turk.
The decision to cancel Middle East cruises was not the first for Costa Toscana. As tensions in the Red Sea emerged in early 2024, the ship’s 19-night repositioning cruise from Dubai to Italy was cancelled just six weeks before departure.
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The regional unrest, which stemmed from conflicts involving Houthi rebels in Yemen, targeted maritime traffic and caused multiple cruise lines to cancel cruises or reroute itineraries away from the Red Sea.
Costa Toscana made her inaugural call to Dubai in late 2022 and remained in the region that winter, cruising between Oman, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.
