Istanbul’s Cruise Port Just Stopped Closing for Winter

Galataport, the cruise terminal built into Istanbul’s Karakoy waterfront, has always been a seasonal operation, filling with ships from spring through autumn and going quiet when the Bosphorus turns cold and grey. That ends this year. Aroya Cruises is adding 25 winter itineraries departing from the port between 10 October 2026 and 24 April 2027, which turns a summer terminal into a year-round one. Sailings will run from Istanbul to Bodrum, Marmaris, Kusadasi and Alexandria, mixing Turkish coastal ports with an Egyptian call.

The numbers the port is projecting are large. Galataport expects the Aroya deployment to drive a 143 percent increase in the number of sailings and a 188 percent increase in passengers compared with last year, targeting 150,000 passengers overall. Percentage increases of that size usually mean a low starting base, which is exactly the point: the winter months previously contributed almost nothing. Filling an empty half-year is the cheapest capacity a port can add, because the terminal, the customs hall and the berths already exist.

Aroya is a distinctive product and worth understanding before booking. The Saudi-backed line operates on a halal concept: no alcohol is served anywhere on board and there is no casino, with fares sold as full board including port taxes. That is an unusual proposition in a Mediterranean market built largely around drinks packages, and it opens the region to a substantial travelling public from the Gulf and elsewhere for whom the standard cruise product has never been comfortable. It will also suit families and anyone indifferent to the bar.

The winter itinerary set is a genuinely different way to see this coastline. Bodrum, Marmaris and Kusadasi in January are quiet places with their ruins and old towns largely to themselves, a stark contrast to the crush of an August afternoon, and Alexandria is considerably more pleasant in winter than in summer. The weather is the trade-off: the Aegean can be rough between December and February, and the sea days will not be sunbathing weather. Travellers who prize empty archaeological sites over pool time will find that a fair exchange.

Sources: Cruise Industry News, Cruise Arabia & Africa