SAUDI Arabia has launched its first ever cruise ship in its latest plot to suck in international tourists.
The Aroya luxury cruise ship set sail from Jeddah on Saudi’s west coast and floated off towards Egypt on the Red Sea on December 11 – but had no fixed destination.
The bobbing behemoth is a third of a kilometre long and spans a jaw-dropping 19 decks.
The almost 1,700 cabins are serviced by an on-board crew of 1,500.
The whole trip was dripping in luxury and curated to give the influencers invited on board a decadent Arabian experience.
The most exclusive suites and facilities are part of the “Khuzama” experience, meaning “lavender” in Arabian.
This uber-VIP accommodation features walk-in wardrobes, vast personal balconies, free-standing baths and 24-hour bars and restaurants serving French-Arabian blend cuisine.
After the December 11 trip launched especially to woo the media, commercial trips began on December 16 to various destinations including private Red Sea islands, Egypt and Jordan.
The colossal boat was first ordered by Hong Kong-based cruise line Star Cruises and named World Dream, but ran into trouble when it became a hotbed for Covid cases and was quarantined in 2020.
In 2023, the ship was auctioned off and bought by Cruise Saudi for £300million, and sent off for renovations in preparation for its launch.
Joerg Rudolph, president of Aroya Cruises, said: “We are incredibly proud to see the Aroya embark on its first commercial voyage from Jeddah after two years of hard work and dedication.”
In 2025 the huge vessel will begin making trips to the Med, the UAE and Bahrain.
The launch of Aroya is the first step in the Cruise Saudi mission – one part of the gulf nation’s Vision 2030 publicity facelift project.
The jewel in the crown of Vision 2030 is a sprawling £1 trillion megacity called Neom, which was to be home to the famous unorthodox The Line city project.
The Line was supposed to be a 106 mile-long, 200 metres-wide sideways skyscraper housing 9 million people that “shines a light on alternative ways to live”.
The Saudis initially promised Neom would be up and running by 2030, but any hope that deadline would be met has not dissolved.
However, it is now predicted that just a mile and a half of The Line will be completed by 2030, and the grand plans are being scaled back.
Speaking at an event in the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier this month, the finance minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan said Neom will take decades to complete.
“Neom is a 50-plus-year plan.”
“If anyone is thinking Neom in its grand size is going to be built and operated and making money in five years, that’s foolish.
“We are not foolish.
“We are wise people.”
“Some projects within Neom will make returns in the short to medium term but this is a very long-term program.”
Saudi Arabia is also gearing up to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and has unveiled visions for 12 dystopian stadiums around the country.
Although the plans are impressive, many people have voiced concerns the construction projects will come at the cost of human lives as cheap migrant workers toil in unforgiving conditions.
