Aroya Manara to House Over 3,500 for 2026 Mediterranean Games
Aroya Manara is expected to berth at the Italian Navy's Chiapparo Naval Base, with onboard spaces used for meals, entertainment and participant gatherings.
AROYA Cruises’ Aroya Manara will be used as athlete accommodation in Taranto for the 20th Mediterranean Games, with more than 3,500 participants expected onboard during the Aug. 21-Sept. 6, 2026 event. The ship is scheduled to stay alongside in the southern Italian city from late August into early September.
The charter places AROYA’s first ship in a hotel role while it is otherwise deployed on Eastern Mediterranean cruises. Together with Tallink’s Romantika, it gives organizers ship-based accommodation for the Games’ Athletes Village.
How the ships will house the Games
Aroya Manara is expected to berth alongside the Italian Navy’s Chiapparo Naval Base. The ship will provide lodging for athletes, coaches, technicians and other delegates, and will also be used for meals, entertainment and participant gatherings tied to the Games.
Quotidiano di Puglia reported that guests are expected from 26 countries and that cabins will accommodate up to two participants. The newspaper said organizers are believed to have agreed to a charter price of nearly €17 million for the AROYA vessel.
Tallink’s Romantika is also being chartered for the event and will house about 1,200 guests, who will use Aroya Manara for meals and other services. The cruise ferry has 2,172 passenger berths across 727 cabins and a maximum passenger capacity of 2,500.
Organizers negotiated with Costa Cruises first, Rai News said.
A second Mediterranean summer, then back to Jeddah
Aroya Manara has 1,678 cabins, a lower-berth capacity of 3,362 guests and capacity for more than 4,500 passengers at full occupancy. The ship was built as World Dream, later acquired by Cruise Saudi in 2023 and renamed for AROYA Cruises.
The vessel began its second consecutive summer season in early June after repositioning from the Red Sea. It is operating seven-night cruises from Galataport Cruise Terminal in Istanbul, calling in Turkey and at ports including Piraeus, Rhodes and Alexandria.
After the Games charter window, Aroya Manara is scheduled to return to the Red Sea in mid-September on a repositioning voyage from Istanbul to AROYA’s homeport of Jeddah.
