Europe-based Costa Cruises this week announced it will position two ships in Sharm-El-Sheik, Egypt next winter to offer seven-night voyages around the 200-mile-wide waterway.

The 820-passenger Costa Allegra and 776-passenger Costa Marina will depart from the Egyptian resort town every Monday and
Thursday, respectively, and call at Adabiyah (Egypt), Safaga (Egypt), Aqaba (Jordan) and Eilhat (Israel) before returning to Sharm el-Sheik.

The unusual new routing will allow cruisers to visit the famed Egyptian ruins of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings (accessible via Safaga) and the equally legendary Jordanian ruins of Petra (accessible via Aqaba), among other historical and cultural attractions in the region.

The ships will spend three days in Sharm-El-Sheik, which is located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula and known for diving, snorkeling and beaches.

Carnival-owned Costa and its German-focused sister line, Aida, have been at the forefront of the growing trend of Middle East cruising in recent years, adding the first regular Persian Gulf voyages (out of Dubai) three years ago. Costa began its fourth season of cruises out of Dubai in December with the arrival of the 2,260-passenger Costa Luminosa. A second Costa ship, the just-unveiled, 2,260-passenger Costa Deliziosa, will take up residence in Dubai later this month, and the 1,494-passenger Costa Europa also is visiting the region this winter on a series of one-way cruises between Italy and Dubai.

The sunny and warm waters of the Persian Gulf have proved a popular winter getaway for cruise fans from Europe, in particular, as well as Middle Easterners and smaller numbers of Americans, despite the waterway's location near several troubled countries including Iraq and Yemen. Unlike the nearby waters of the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf is not known for pirate attacks on ships.