For centuries, countless Muslims bound for Saudi Arabia’s holy cities charted routes across the seas aboard dhows, junks, and slow-moving steamships. Yet amid the advent of air travel, a journey that historically took weeks or months from the far reaches of Asia and Africa was reduced to hours, and the great maritime pilgrimages—once a defining part of the Hajj and Umrah experience—largely faded into obscurity.
But now, that centuries-old seafaring tradition is being revived with a new two-week luxury cruise that will transport hundreds of Muslims from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia via Indonesia, the Maldives, and Oman.
The journey by IslamiCruise aboard Aroya—the kingdom’s first luxury liner—will feature nightly prayer sessions, Islamic lectures and visits to local mosques in each port of call. Due to its Saudi government ownership, the vessel is sharia-compliant, serving only halal food in its 15 restaurants, with no alcohol or gaming on-board.
The cruise—which starts from around $3,800 per passenger based on two people sharing an interior cabin—will depart on 30, January 2026 from Malaysia’s Port Klang, around an hour-and-a-half’s drive west from Kuala Lumpur. It will then set sail for Indonesia’s Banda Aceh—the capital of a province which is 98 percent Muslim by population and is the country’s only region to follow sharia law.
After that, the journey continues towards the Maldivian capital of Malé, home to the golden-domed Grand Friday Mosque and the King Salman Mosque, which was part-funded by Saudi Arabia and is one of the largest places of worship in the Indian Ocean. Next, the ship will stop in Salalah in Oman, where passengers can visit significant religious sites like the Imran Prophet Tomb—the largest grave in Islamic history.
On February 12, 2026, nearly two weeks after leaving Malaysia, the cruise will reach Jeddah, where guests can continue on to the holy cities of Madina and Makkah, a few hours’ away by road or the Haramain high speed train.
Aroya, the flagship venture of the government-backed Cruise Saudi, can host up to 3,362 passengers in its 1,678 cabins on each sailing across 18 decks packed with restaurants and entertainment options. With no alcohol on board, drinks packages instead unlock unlimited cups of gahwa, mocktails, and flutes of non-alcoholic ‘Saudi champagne’.
Where once there were casinos, there are now prayer rooms. The three-story souk—a considerable retail footprint for a vessel of this size—stocks all the usual ship staples (Swarovski shades, duty-free perfumes, giant bars of Toblerone), but counts oud-infused bukhoor and designer abayas among its best-sellers.
