Alexandria Resumes Cruise Boarding for Aroya Sailings
Aroya’s first call brought 2,063 passengers and 1,054 crew to Alexandria, with about 275 guests boarding for a seven-night itinerary to four Turkish ports.
Alexandria Port Authority has resumed cruise embarkation and disembarkation services with Aroya Cruises, after the 3,400-passenger Aroya arrived June 11, 2026, to begin a series of regular calls. Eight of the ship’s 10 scheduled visits to Alexandria are planned as interporting operations, allowing passengers to join Eastern Mediterranean cruises at the Egyptian port.
The first call brought 2,063 passengers and 1,054 crew members to Alexandria, with roughly 275 guests boarding the vessel there. The operation adds Alexandria to a regional deployment that also uses Istanbul as an embarkation point for Aroya’s summer program.
Alexandria added to Aroya’s boarding ports
Aroya is currently operating seven-night cruises after repositioning to the Eastern Mediterranean. For guests embarking in Alexandria, the roundtrip cruise is scheduled to visit four Turkish destinations: Istanbul, Marmaris, Kas and Bodrum.
“The importance of this type of service lies in the significant added value it brings to the national economy and the tourism sector,” the Alexandria Port Authority said.
The authority said the call was supported through coordination among Egyptian state agencies involved in maritime tourism. It also said tugboats and pilot boats escorted Aroya from arrival to berth, while the radar pilot tower monitored the operation to support safe navigation.
The port authority presented Aroya’s choice of Alexandria for interporting as evidence of cruise-line confidence in the port’s facilities. Alexandria’s cruise terminal has four berths totaling 820 meters, with depths of 9 to 12 meters, and can handle up to 5,000 tourists at one time. The terminal is about 1.5 to 2 kilometers from downtown Alexandria, with taxis and shuttle options used for passenger movement beyond the port area.
Aroya deployment links Egypt, Turkey and Greece
Aroya is the sole ship in Aroya Cruises’ fleet. Cruise Saudi acquired the former World Dream in 2023, and the ship entered service for Aroya Cruises in December 2024.
The Alexandria-linked Egypt and Turkey rotation is designed as a visa-free option for various markets and does not include Schengen ports. Aroya has also opened a 2026 Greece-and-Turkey itinerary from Galataport Cruise Terminal in Istanbul, with calls at Bodrum, Rhodes, Mykonos and Piraeus and late departures at most destinations.
After the summer program, Aroya is scheduled to offer an eight-night repositioning voyage to Jeddah in mid-September, with planned calls at Bodrum, Marmaris, Port Suez and Sharm El Sheikh. The ship will then begin Red Sea cruises of two to five nights, including calls at Jabal Al-Sabaya, Aqaba, Yanbu and Sharm El Sheikh.
Aroya is scheduled to return to the Mediterranean for its third consecutive summer season starting in June 2027.
