Trump's war had the impact of shutting down the airport, and preventing at least six major cruise ships from leaving the Persian Gulf when the Strait of Hormuz was closed to general shipping. Imagine a large cruise ship being hit or sunk. Just one of these, the MSC Euribia, carries over six thousand passengers.
In the background is TUI Cruises 'Mein Schiff 5', on a 7-night "Zauber des Orients" (Magic of the Orient) cruise
The ship carries 2,600 passengers. mid-sized, so there were many passengers in town.
At the time of writing, the war is still under way. According to the Emirati defense ministry, in the first week, more than 540 drones, 165 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles targeted the United Arab Emirates. Most of those projectiles were intercepted, but 21 drones struck civilian targets. Compared to other targets, Dubai suffered minor damage: the international airport was damaged, injuring four people; the sail-shaped hotel, the Burj al-Arab, caught fire after its facade was hit by falling debris; and explosions shattered the windows of apartment towers and the Fairmont hotel on Dubai’s man-made Palm Jumeirah island. Three migrant workers were killed.
By the Friday after the war began, over 15,000 cruise passengers had become trapped in the Persian Gulf, adding to the many thousands of stranded airline travellers.
That week our house cleaner, Lily, congratulated us on our timing, yet again we were home before the trouble started. Thanks for that go to Azamara. We'd timed our trip to suite the cruise line.