Premium cruise line Celebrity Cruises has revealed more details relating to its global fleet deployment plans for the 2018/2019 year, with bigger ships heading to some parts of the world, longer stays in others and a variety of brand new ports joining the line’s network map.
In a year which will see the line take delivery of its newest vessel Celebrity Edge, the brand will visit a total of 282 destinations in 77 countries. Ships will spend an entire night in port on 188 occasions and on 28 others will spend two nights tied up in one destination, giving its passengers a great opportunity to really immerse themselves in a particular city.
These one and two-night stays will generally be associated with cruises timed to visit major events such as Carnival in Rio De Janeiro. Fourth of July celebrations in Boston and Canada’s birthday in Halifax will also see a Celebrity ship spend the entire night in port. Other cities to see a ship spend an entire night in port will include Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Quebec, St Maarten, Aruba and many others. Here are some other highlights for the season.
For the first time, Celebrity Eclipse – one of Celebrity’s larger ‘Solstice Class’ ships – will travel to South America, calling in Antarctica on its way to the east coast and to ports such as Buenos Aires. Two-week cruises taking guests from one side of the continent to the other between Chile and Argentina will be on offer along with two round-trip cruises to Antarctica departing from Argentina.
A brand new Eastern Caribbean itinerary has also been designed for the season, which will be offered by Celebrity Equinox, making the ship one of the only premium ships to spend its entire year in the tropical region of the world. This itinerary will visit four ports – quite a lot for that part of the world – including San Juan, Puerto Rico; St Thomas; Nassau, Bahamas and a brand new port in the Coconut Coast, Dominican Republic.
The Caribbean will see guests have access to a new shore excursion known as ‘At Home with Chef Nicole’. One of the region’s most prominent and accomplished culinary identities, Nicole Arthurton will welcome guests booked on the tour into her Antigua home for an exclusive three-course meal – an off-ship adventure sure to be popular with foodies.
Another major event on Celebrity’s calendar for 2018/19 is the Chinese New Year, with Celebrity Constellation timed to be in Hong Kong harbour for the bedazzling display of fireworks, colour and noise. In order to reach these celebrations, the ship will reposition from the Arabian Peninsula at either end of the season on 29-night sailings from Abu Dhabi in which it will follow the ancient spice trade route, stopping in ports such as Dubai, Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Sri Lanka, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and more.
Sister ship Celebrity Millennium will also take in a major event, paying a visit to the Pingxi Lantern Festival, with viewing opportunities maximised as thousands of lanterns are released into the sky, each filled with handwritten messages of optimism and goodwill for the future.
As previously reported, Australia’s favourite Celebrity ship – Celebrity Solstice – will offer a number of new itineraries for its 2018/19 visit to Australia. These will include domestic sailings north along the Queensland coast to the Great Barrier Reef as well as a much wider reach into the South Pacific which will see the ship cruise as far east as Samoa and Tonga.
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