Cruise News - Celebrity Cruises - Largest-Ever Lineup of European Cruises
March 18 - 2011 : CELEBRITY CRUISES TO "GO BIG" IN SUMMER OF 2012 WITH LARGEST-EVER EUROPE LINEUP
Some say that to be effective, it’s best to “go big or go home.” Celebrity Cruises is going big in the summer/early fall season of 2012, when it will offer vacationers more opportunities to enjoy premium Europe cruises than ever before, with five ships visiting 70 ports in 22 countries, sailing from six departure ports, and featuring 19 distinct Mediterranean itineraries.
Celebrity Silhouette - courtesy Celebrity Cruises
Recognizing that people’s vacation time is precious, Celebrity has shaped a 2012 Europe lineup that exemplifies the premium cruise brand’s focus on offering a multitude of ways for people to have the best vacation experience possible. Some extended overnight stays and eight new ports will add even more depth to Celebrity’s already broad Europe offerings; these include Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; Akureyri, Iceland; Bari, Catania, and Ravenna, Italy; Skijolden, Norway; Koper, Slovenia and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. Travelers can enjoy these and the 62 other ports Celebrity will visit in Europe in 2012 in ultra-premium style, as Celebrity is deploying four of its award-winning Solstice Class ships to sail full Europe seasons in 2012. They will be joined by the recently “Solsticized” Celebrity Constellation.
The 2,886-guest Celebrity Silhouette, which will debut later this year, will be the first Celebrity ship to offer a variety of sailings from Venice, Italy. These will be a series of roundtrip, Venice-based cruises and open-jaw cruises between Venice and Rome, ranging from 11-13 nights in length, from May through mid-August of 2012. Sailing along the Adriatic Coast as well as in Greece and Turkey, these itineraries will be port-intensive, with only one or two “sea days” on each cruise. In mid-August, Celebrity Silhouette will offer eight Holy Land voyages roundtrip from Rome, ranging from 11-14 nights in length.
The 2,850-guest Celebrity Eclipse, which launched in 2010 and features the first “Celebrity iLounge” and unique specialty restaurant Qsine, will be based in Southampton, England for the summer of 2012. She will offer four unique 14-night itineraries in the Mediterranean, Scandinavia/Russia, Iceland/Fjords and Canary Islands/Azores. A brand-new expanded Baltic season will include cruises to Iceland and the Norwegian Fjords, with an overnight, in-port stay in Reykjavik, the world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state and a hub of nightlife and shopping, and a full-day visit to Akureyri, the country’s second-largest urban area.
Celebrity Constellation, which was retrofitted with a series of Solstice-class venues last year, will offer a variety of cruises from Amsterdam, including seven Scandinavia/Russia cruises, one Arctic Circle cruise and one Norwegian Fjords cruise. Additional offerings on Celebrity Constellation will include three port-intensive, 12-night Greek Isles and Turkey cruises with only two sea days, and three 12-night Holy Land sailings that each feature three immersive days in Israel: a two-day overnight, in-port stay in Ashdod and Alexandria and a full-day call in Haifa.
Celebrity’s flagship Solstice Class vessel, Celebrity Solstice, and sister ship Celebrity Equinox will continue 2011’s itineraries, which are proving to be popular choices among premium vacationers. Celebrity Solstice will present two distinct choices of 12-night Mediterranean sailings roundtrip out of Barcelona, Spain: a an itinerary highlighted by an overnight, in-port stay in Venice, and an itinerary that will include calls at Mykonos, Santorini and Kusadasi. Celebrity Equinox will homeport in Rome (Civitavecchia), and perform 10- and 11-night cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean, visiting ports in Greece and Turkey. The 11-night itinerary will include an overnight, in-port stay in Istanbul, Turkey, allowing vacationers more opportunities to absorb the ancient city’s dual cultures and mystique.
Guests who wish to deepen their experience in Europe can take advantage of Celebrity’s cruisetour offerings, which combine a cruise with a three- to five-night pre-cruise escorted land package in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. The packages, exclusive to Celebrity Cruises, immerse guests in culture-rich destinations such as Amsterdam; Venice; Paris; the Italian Lakes; Florence; Madrid; London; and Cappadiocia, Turkey. Celebrity Silhouette will offer two new cruisetour packages: a three-night pre-cruise Italian Lakes and Venice experience that now offers two nights in Como and includes a lake tour to Bellagio, and a five-night Venice, Florence and Rome pre-cruise experience that is ideal for guests who wish to book roundtrip air to and from Venice and sail from Rome to Venice after the land portion of the cruisetour. All of these packages are escortedby a local tour director and include hotel accommodations, transportation, select activities, breakfasts and some additional meals.
For more information visit www.celebritycruises.com
•