MSC Cruises has slashed the prices for its debut winter season of cruises in the Arabian Gulf in a bid to stimulate late interest from the local market.

The promotion includes a rate of US$ 200 per person per week including port charges over the Christmas sailing period; and US$ 300 per person per week for New Year sailing.

The first to homeport in Abu Dhabi, MSC Lirica is sailing 19, eight day/seven night itineraries for the 2011/2012 season around the Arabian Gulf calling at Muscat, Fujairah, Khasab and Dubai.

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Ashok Kumar, managing director, Cruise Master - Middle East said the local market traditionally showed little interest in Arabian Gulf cruises.

“Local contribution for cruises within Arabian Gulf has been insignificant for various reasons – people living in the region have been travelling within the Gulf and wish to explore new regions; there are no major school holidays during the cruise season here.

“The current economic climate in Europe may have hurt the occupancy levels, which has resulted in MSC offering such low pricing in order to stimulate local traffic from this late booking market. Bear in mind that cruise line objectives is to fill up their ships with as many bodies as possible for optimum utilisation of resources and for onboard revenues.”

Royal Caribbean has reported that its Arabian Gulf cruise on Brilliance of the Seas is sold out for the Christmas and New Year holiday season. The price for the seven-night cruise on Brilliance of the Seas for the rest of the season until March starts from around US$ 600 per person on double occupancy.

Royal Caribbean is offering a special winter promotions for the Gulf sailings if the bookings are confirmed before 31 Dec 2011, including a discount of $200/- per person for suite categories and $100/- per person for staterooms with balcony.

Brilliance of the Seas is extending her third consecutive season in the Gulf region to six months – which runs from November 2011 through to April 2012. The longest season to date will comprise of 18 roundtrip 7-night sailings and two Dubai and India 12-nights sailings.