By
Rebecca Gibson |
Seabourn Cruises is to visit Doha in Qatar and Sir Bani Yas Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time in 2015.
Doha will be the penultimate port of call on the cruise line’s new 18-day Holy Land & Gems of Arabia itinerary from Athens to Dubai, departing in October 2015.
Meanwhile, Sir Bani Yas island will be the first stop for guests onboard Seabourn’s new Dubai to Singapore Arabian Jewels & India sailing, also 18-days from November 2015. A fishing and pearling village until the middle of the 20th century, Doha offers shopping malls with international brands, as well as renowned architecture.
Sir Bani Yas, the largest natural island in the UAE, is home to more than 100 species of birds and 30 species of mammals including giraffes, gazelles, cheetahs, hyenas, and the world’s largest herd of endangered Arabian oryx. Guests will approach the island by sea, enabling them to view dolphins and turtles in the Persian Gulf.
Both itineraries will take place on Seabourn Sojourn, one of Seabourn’s trio of Odyssey-class ships.
Guests joining Seabourn Sojourn’s 18-day Holy Land & Gems of Arabia voyage will depart from Piraeus in Greece and call at Agios Nikolaos in Crete; Haifa in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Ashdod in Jerusalem, Israel. The ship will then transit the Suez Canal, before calling at Aqaba in Jordan; Salalah and Muscat in Oman; Doha in Qatar; and Dubai.
Those on the ship’s 18-day Arabian Jewels & India cruise will visit Sir Bani Yas Island; Abu Dhabi; Muscat, Oman; Mumbai, Mangalore and Cochin, India; Phuket in Thailand; and Singapore.