Leslie Ballantyne woke up early in the morning to an emergency alert flashing on her cell phone. “Potential missile threat. Evacuate immediately to the nearest secure building.”
Her partner Alistair appears to have fallen asleep. Ballantine got out of bed and looked out the cabin window. Outside there is only darkness and the illuminated light of Dubai Port.
It was Sunday.
Three days later, Ballantine was still on board the MSC Eulivia, a 331-meter-long, 19-deck cruise ship docked in Dubai.
The Eulivia is one of several ships currently unable to leave the Middle East due to the escalating conflict in Iran. For thousands of passengers and crew, routine leisure voyages through Gulf and Red Sea ports have become a game of uncertain waiting times as ships change routes, delay departures or remain berthed amid safety concerns.
“I heard a loud bang and saw a missile coming off the ship, but everything seemed so far away,” Ballantyne, who is from Scotland, told CNN Travel.
When she couldn’t see anything outside the window after the emergency alert, she thought the only thing she could do was go back to bed. “There was nothing to see. So I went back to bed and went back to sleep.”
For Ballantine, the moment symbolized the strangeness of the entire situation, a sentiment echoed by his fellow passengers.
Sharon Cockrum, another British passenger on the Eulivia, told CNN: “I never, ever thought I would be involved in something like this.” “I always watch it on TV from home.”
It doesn’t look like the ship or its passengers are going anywhere anytime soon. Airspace in the region is closed or restricted and ships are unable to return passengers by sea as they avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a typically busy waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The Joint Maritime Information Center recently raised its risk assessment for the region to the highest level of “severe”, indicating an attack is “almost certain”.
The medium-sized ship Celestial Discovery, operated by Greek company Celestial Cruises, is also stranded in Dubai. One of our sister ships, Celestyal Journey, is docked in Doha. German cruise company TUI operates two ships in the region: Mein Schiff 5 in Doha and Mein Schiff 4 in Abu Dhabi.
TUI Cruises announced on Wednesday that a special Emirates flight departed from Dubai to Munich with 218 passengers on board the Main Schif 4.
Passengers remaining on the affected ships also hope to eventually disembark and fly home, but the date for their return is uncertain due to the fluid and unstable geopolitical situation.
Ms Cockram is particularly keen to return to the UK because her daughter is pregnant. The baby’s due date is several weeks away, but the latest information from her midwife says it could happen at any time. This will be Cockrum’s first grandchild, and she and her husband want to be there for the moment. They also fear that the stress of their current predicament will affect their daughter’s health.
“Our daughter, who lives in the UK, is very ill and pregnant which is worrying, but it was something we could all have avoided,” Ms Cockrum said.
She and Ballantine said they felt safe aboard the Eulivia and were happy to remain there until the cruise line deemed it safe to disembark. Both have booked flights home for this Saturday, March 7th, and are hopeful that this will happen.
“It’s very scary,” Cockrum said. “But as the days go by, I think, ‘I’ve been okay so far, so I hope I’m okay until I can go home.'”
Mr Ballantyne said the overall mood remained “positive” despite the uncertainty, adding that while “there must be some concern” there was “no sign of panic”. Both passengers praised the staff for keeping their spirits up and concealing their concerns.
“They’re really in the same situation as us. They’re probably worried about how they’re going to get home. They have families. But they’ve been great,” Cockrum said.
Travelers are trying hard to enjoy vacations that are far from what they expected. It helps that onboard entertainment is still going on, they say. On Monday night, passengers attended a scheduled white party. Guests wore all-white clothing and enjoyed food, drinks, and dancing.
“The atmosphere was bouncy,” Baranton said, adding that the common strange situation “brings people together.” Still, Ms Ballantine said trying to enjoy the festival while listening to the sound of missiles was “very surreal” and brought on “mixed emotions”.
“We’re literally stuck and have nowhere to go, so having an opportunity to decompress is really valuable,” she said. She admitted: “At the same time, I know that everything can change in an instant.”
“My heart also goes out to those directly affected by the conflict and their families,” she said. “There are no winners in this war, and we don’t know where this will end.”
Cockrum said she was surprised by the worsening geopolitical situation ahead of the holidays. She and her husband had been vacationing in Dubai for a few days before boarding the ship, but she said she had “no idea what was going on.”
Ballantyne said he was certainly concerned about geopolitical tensions in the region in the lead-up to the ship’s departure, but did not expect it to affect the cruise.
“Honestly, we wanted to get home before the game started,” she said.
MSC Cruises said it is working with embassies and foreign offices to repatriate passengers as soon as operations resume.
On Wednesday, the cruise line announced it was working directly with airlines, including Emirates and Etihad Airways, to request “priority” for passengers on repatriation flights.
An MSC spokesperson said: “Airlines operating flights at this time have indicated that they will follow a priority order based on the original flight date.”
The cruise company said it was also working on charter flights from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat “to accelerate repatriation.”
“The situation on board the ship remains calm. We are providing regular updates to our guests regarding the situation,” the cruise line added. “They will have full access to all onboard services and facilities and we will continue to provide them with a high standard of care, comfort and support.”
Ms Ballantyne said she was most worried about boarding her flight home given recent attacks targeting airports in the area.
Her concerns were echoed by Mr Cockrum. “I’m not looking forward to it,” she said, adding that she would only feel safe once she returned to European airspace. “I’m worried, but I’m sure we won’t be allowed to fly unless it’s completely safe.”
In the meantime, Ballantyne and Cockrum said they are trying to focus on enjoying their cruise voyage without setting sail, rather than thinking about what happened in the past or what will happen next.
