Mina Rashid cruise terminal (Port Rashid): terminals, DXB and hotel transfers

Which terminal at Mina Rashid is yours?

DP World runs Mina Rashid, and its flagship building is the Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal. DP World describes it as the world’s biggest single covered cruise terminal. The port can take 7 large cruise ships, or up to 27,000 passengers, at the same time. It has run homeport sailings since 2007 and handles about 1 million passengers a year.

The 2023 to 2024 season opened at the Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal on 28 October 2023, when Mein Schiff 2 docked. That season the Dubai Media Office listed MSC Cruises, TUI Cruises, AIDA, Costa and Ponant as lines homeporting in Dubai. Cunard, P&O Cruises, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Silversea and Cordelia made port calls.

That list covers Dubai as a whole, not one port. Ships also use Dubai Harbour, 32 km down the coast by road, so read the port name on your cruise documents. If they show only a terminal number, such as Terminal 3, send it to us with the ship’s name and date. Our guide to the Dubai Harbour cruise terminal covers the other port.

Where is Mina Rashid, and how do cars reach it?

Mina Rashid is Port Rashid, at the northern end of Bur Dubai, close to the mouth of Dubai Creek. Cars come in off Jumeirah Street and Al Mina Street. The Queen Elizabeth 2, the former ocean liner now run as a 13-deck floating hotel, is moored inside the port.

RTA sets a separate taxi tariff for the port. A Dubai taxi picking up at Port Rashid starts at AED 25 at any hour, against AED 5 for a daytime street hail. The fare formula also adds a fee for entering the Port Rashid area.

We could not find vehicle access or drop-off rules for the cruise terminals on DP World’s site. Your chauffeur confirms the waiting point on WhatsApp on the morning your ship docks.

Mina Rashid to DXB for a same-day flight

Mina Rashid is the closer of Dubai’s two cruise ports to Dubai International. These are drive times without traffic, from the OSRM route planner on OpenStreetMap data, checked on 17 October 2026.

From Mina Rashid to	Road distance	Without traffic	Usual roads
DXB Terminal 1	about 15 km	23 min	Jumeirah Street, then Sheikh Rashid Road
DXB Terminal 3 (Emirates)	about 19 km	26 min	Across the creek into Deira, then Abu Hail Street and Al Quds Street
Sharjah International (SHJ)	about 41 km	43 min	Sheikh Rashid Road and Al Khawaneej Road to the E311
Al Maktoum International (DWC)	about 62 km	1 h 6 min	Sheikh Zayed Road, then Al Maktoum Airport Street
Zayed International (AUH)	about 125 km	1 h 32 min	Sheikh Zayed Road, then Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Street, both the E11

Dubai Airports advises arriving at least 3 hours before departure. For a 3pm Emirates flight from Terminal 3, that means reaching the terminal by noon. With a 26-minute drive and a margin for loading cases, the car leaves the port by about 11.15am. Your cruise line sets the time your group leaves the ship, so check it fits before you book the flight.

Our page on DXB pickups and drop-offs covers each terminal’s departures kerb. For a flight from Dubai South, see Al Maktoum International transfers.

Embarkation day: hotel to ship

To Mina Rashid from	Road distance	Without traffic
Bur Dubai, at Al Fahidi	about 7 km	15 min
Deira, at Al Rigga	about 12 km	19 min
Downtown Dubai	about 13 km	21 min
Business Bay	about 15 km	22 min
Al Barsha, by Mall of the Emirates	about 25 km	30 min
Jumeirah, by Burj Al Arab	about 26 km	30 min
Al Majaz, Sharjah	about 24 km	31 min
Dubai Marina	about 32 km	35 min
Palm Jumeirah, at Atlantis	about 36 km	41 min

A week at sea often means one large case per person. Count them before you pick the car, because boot space runs out before the seats do.

• Mercedes-Benz V-Class: 6 passengers with 4 large cases.
• GMC Yukon or Kia Carnival: 6 passengers with 3 large cases.
• 13-seat Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: 6 large cases with every seat in use.
• 19-seat Sprinter: only 3 large cases when all 19 seats are taken, so a full cruise group needs a second vehicle for the bags.

Our van and group transport page lists the larger vehicles, and the seats and luggage guide compares every car’s boot.

Taxis, shuttles and private cars at the port

• Taxis: metered, with the AED 25 Port Rashid starting fare and the area fee.
• Shuttles: the QE2 hotel runs a free shuttle bus for its own guests. For a cruise line shuttle, ask your line what it runs on your date.
• Metro: the QE2 names Al Ghubaiba Metro Station as a few minutes away. With large cases, a car is the simpler choice.
• Private car: you leave the ship and walk through the terminal with your bags. Your chauffeur waits on the road side with a board showing your name.

With a few hours before your flight, book the car by the hour and see the city on the way to DXB. Al Fahidi is only 7 km from the terminal, and our Dubai city tour starts there. For a full day with the car waiting, see our chauffeur service in Dubai.

When is cruise season at Mina Rashid?

The season opens in late October. In 2023 the first ship docked on 28 October, and Dubai expected up to 150 cruise ship visits that season. DP World says Mina Rashid also receives some ships in summer.

We could not find an official 2026 to 2027 call list for the port. Send us your ship and date when you book. We time the pickup to your group’s disembarkation slot, not the docking time.

All three UAE cruise terminals, with their airports, are on our cruise terminal transfers page. The airports themselves are compared in our UAE airports guide.