Thousands of cruise ship passengers find themselves stranded at Gulf ports due to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The situation has left tourists anxious and eager to exit the region.

As tensions rise, passengers and crew members are confined to their vessels, now serving as makeshift hotels, amid growing safety concerns in the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The crisis erupted following Iran’s declaration to disrupt the area by closing the strait and threatening any ships attempting passage with destruction.

Approximately 130,000 British nationals are among those stuck in the Gulf. In response, airlines are increasing flights from the UAE, and the UK government has organized its first emergency evacuation flight.

Reports indicate that at least six cruise ships from major companies remain immobilized, awaiting clearance to proceed.

One passenger shared their experience with the German newspaper Bild, describing the escalating anxiety: “Many passengers, including families with children, are beginning to lose their composure.”

‘Nobody knows how or when we will get out of here,’ added the holidaymaker, saying there was an atmosphere of ‘panic, tears’ and ‘fear of further impacts.’

There are now worries about how long the passengers will be stranded and how the ships are going to cope with all the basic services, food, drink, water etc. 

The cruise ship passengers are just the latest travelers to become stranded in the region, with other tourists as well as influencers also caught up in the escalating chaos. 

A host of celebrities who have moved to Dubai have shared updates after getting caught up in the air attacks. 

It comes as: 

•  Pete Hegseth has boasted about sinking Iranian warship in a Pentagon briefing, as the US shared a video of the strike.
• Turkey was confirmed to not be the target of a missile launched from Iran, heading toward Turkish airspace that was destroyed by NATO air-defence systems, a Turkish official has told the AFP news agency
• An Iranian warship sunk off Sri Lanka in an apparent submarine attack which has left more than 100 sailors missing and 78 injured
• Keir Starmer accused Donald Trump of lacking a ‘viable, thought-through plan’ for the Iran war today as Transatlantic tensions rise. 
• Israel vowed to assassinate the successor to Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei whose funeral will take place in Tehran later today
• The Ayatollah’s son Mojtaba is reportedly lined up to take over from his father though he is not a high-ranking cleric and does not have an official role in the regime
• Israel launched new attacks on Tehran and Lebanon with the military urging people to evacuate along the southern border as it targets Hezbollah militants
• Last night Iranian drones struck the US consulate in Dubai, causing it to catch fire while a missile also hit a US air base in Qatar
• Saudi Arabia said its Ras Tanura oil refinery was targeted in an attempted drone strike just two days after it had to suspend operations because of a fire
• Iran claimed it has ‘complete control’ of Strait of Hormuz despite Donald Trump indicating the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the passage
• Trump mocked Sir Keir Starmer whom he called ‘no Winston Churchill’ in a major blow to the US-UK Special Relationship

Branding it the ‘scariest, worst nights of our lives’, many spoke of how scared they were hearing the constant bangs overhead, while sheltering in their homes as the strikes rage on across the UAE. 

Cruise passenger Darren Lee, from Manchester, who is currently stuck with his family on MSC Euribia in Dubai told the Daily Mail the ship was surrounded by ‘booms.’

Lee, who is with his partner, 12-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, said: ‘We’d heard a couple of booms, which we’ve been told were interceptions of rockets and drones.

  ‘A drone was intercepted right over our heads and there was a really loud boom, which made everyone run inside.

Lee said he was more worried about not being able to get home than about the war. 

He said: ‘I googled it and Emirates, I think, has 5,000 flights a day, and they have not flown for three or four days so there is going to be a massive backlog.

‘The realisation is starting to hit me now but I’ve always tried to be a positive person.’  

According to leading travel portal Hosteltur.com, the cruise companies affected are MSC Cruises and Celestyal Cruises.

The portal said MSC Euribia remains docked in the port of Dubai, under strict security measures, with embarkations suspended until further notice.

The ships Celestyal Journey and Celestyal Discovery have also had their departures cancelled and are being kept under supervision in regional ports. 

‘The activation of emergency protocols has forced captains to suspend scheduled itineraries in the face of the latent risk in the Strait of Hormuz and the exponential increase in the cost of insurance policies that, in many cases, have stopped covering operations in the area.

‘This forced immobilisation is not only a problem of fuel or supply logistics, but a matter of security that transcends leisure to enter the terrain of a large-scale operational crisis,’ Hosteltur.com. said.

‘The sector, which was in the middle of the peak of the winter season, is now facing a situation of technical paralysis that transcends the simple cancellation of itineraries.

‘The impossibility of carrying out the planned rotations has forced companies to reevaluate not only the safety of their guests and crews but also the viability of their logistics structures.

‘The industry is waiting for safe corridors that allow the evacuation or repositioning of fleets to less compromised international waters.’

A spokesperson for Celestyal Cruises said: ‘At present, in line with instructions from local authorities, we are unable to disembark guests.

‘We are working closely with the relevant authorities and will begin disembarkation in Dubai as soon as permission is granted.

‘Once approved, we will provide support to assist guests with transfers from the ship to Abu Dhabi Airport.

‘All guests who were due to travel on cancelled sailings will be offered the option of a full refund or a future cruise credit. We strongly encourage guests to speak directly with their travel provider. We sincerely apologise to guests for the disruption.’

 Meanwhile, a spokesperson for MSC said the company is ‘following the guidance of the regional US military authorities to keep the ship in the port of Dubai,’ as airspace remains closed.

They added: ‘At this time, the situation on board is calm, and our guests and crew are comfortable and well looked after. We continue to provide a high-quality service to all guests.’

Celebrities and tourist families on the ground have also described terrifying scenes as missile interceptions lit up the skies above Dubai, hotels were evacuated and airports descended into confusion as flights were cancelled without warning.

Former TOWIE star Kate Ferdinand and ex Apprentice candidate Luisa Zissman revealed they slept in the basement of their Dubai homes with their children as missile strikes hit the city on Saturday night. 

Kate took to Instagram on Sunday to provide an update on their whereabouts and reassured fans they were safe after a ‘very scary night’. 

 She wrote: ‘Thank you for all of your messages and sorry for the silence, I haven’t wanted to worry you all I just haven’t been able to find the words. We are safe.

‘The government are doing an amazing job of keeping it that way and despite my nerves I feel we are in very safe hands.

Meanwhile, ex-footballer Alan Rogers shared a video on Monday morning from Dubai where loud booms can be heard in the distance.

Former Love Island star Laura Anderson, 36, took to Instagram on Wednesday and revealed she had managed to get a flight out of the UAE along with her two-year-old daughter Bonnie. 

Sharing a photo of her plane before take off, she wrote: ‘We’re on. Although I’m taking each stage very lightly… The airport was quiet as expected. Calm, people were so helpful I felt a bit teary. 

Grandmother Mina Pattni, 62 and her family were staying at the Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah, which was hit by either a drone or debris, starting a fire.

‘It was absolutely terrifying,’ said Mina, from Leicester. ‘We were just sitting down to eat on Saturday night when we heard some interceptions of drones or missiles in the air.

‘That was scary enough, but just as we ordered, there was this terrific bang and we could see that the side of the building had been hit and everyone was evacuated until the fire was extinguished.’

Mina was travelling with her husband Latash, 67, and their daughter and son in law and two grandsons Krish, two and 5-month-old Rohin.

‘The children were very frightened,’ said Mina. ‘They picked up the slightly panicky mood from the other guests, though the hotel staff were very good and still managed to serve cold food, even though the gas in the hotel had to be turned off.

Father and son James, 18 and Jim Dixon, 61 from Leicester were due to fly back to the UK from Dubai on Saturday afternoon, and after checking in, they were held at the airport for five hours before being moved to a hotel to begin the long wait.

‘The communication hasn’t been great, to be honest,’ said Jim. ‘We’ve had more information from people back home, but I do understand it’s a pretty exceptional situation.

Accountants John Barndell, 37 from London and Greg Coull, 35 from Edinburgh had been on a business trip to India and were only supposed to be in transit at Dubai to change flights.

‘We were well taken care of by the airline and the hotel, though the comms could definitely have been better’ said John.

‘We just want to get any flight to Europe – we’ll go anywhere,’ he said. ‘If we had been an hour earlier or two hours later, we’d have probably made it back to London.

This comes as now thousands of British nationals will arrive home from the war-torn Middle East today as airlines ramp up flights out of the UAE and the Government charters its first emergency evacuation flight.

The Government appears to be relying on commercial airlines to get passengers back home, chartering just a single flight from Oman with no plans in place for a wide-scale evacuation.

Despite around 130,000 Brits registering as stranded in the Gulf, around 100 pilots and crew members from BA and other airlines were flown from Muscat to Heathrow on Monday.

Emirates is today operating seven flights from Dubai to the UK while Etihad has two departures from Abu Dhabi. Virgin Atlantic will operate a flight from Dubai to London Heathrow. 

The Government has also scheduled its first repatriation flight to leave Oman’s Muscat International Airport at 11pm local time (7pm GMT) tonight and will prioritise the most vulnerable Brits first as attacks continue to explode across the region.

British nationals and their spouse or partner, and their children under the age of 18, with a valid travel document are all eligible.

The Foreign Office said it would contact British nationals to secure them a way out of the Middle East, and urged people not to travel to the airport unless they have been officially called.

More than 11,000 commercial flights have been cancelled with 1 million people affected since airspace over the Gulf largely closed.

The attacks in the region are intensifying, with Israel today declaring it is now carrying out a ‘broad wave’ of attacks in Tehran. 

The IDF says the ‘terrorist infrastructure’ will be targeted in what it highlighted was the ‘tenth wave’ of attacks on the Iranian capital. 

The Israeli military also launched airstrikes on Beirut as it targets Hezbollah militants in the Lebanese capital.

Israel has also vowed to assassinate Iran’s next supreme leader as the country decides who will succeed Ayatollah Khamenei whose funeral in Tehran has been postponed today amid new airstrikes in the capital.

Iran meanwhile has continued its retaliatory attacks in Israel and across the Gulf states.

Iranian drones attacked the US consulate in Dubai overnight, causing it to catch fire, while a missile also struck America’s largest military base in Qatar.

The IRGC has now threatened to strike ‘all economic centres’ across the Middle East, raising fears that global financial hubs like Dubai could be dragged deeper into the escalating conflict. 

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander warned Tehran would retaliate if US and Israeli strikes continue, declaring Iran would target the region’s key commercial and economic hubs.

‘We are saying to the enemy that if it decides to hit our main centres, we will hit all economic centres in the region,’ Ebrahim Jabbari said in remarks broadcast on Iranian state media.