New Stars Dazzle, Past Favorites Shine, as Five Celebrity Ships Sail Europe in 2009
With its largest European deployment ever slated for 2009, Celebrity Cruises is offering guests the opportunity to paint their idea of the perfect vacation -- by numbers, that is. Five ships, including two new vessels, will visit the region in a single European season for the first time in the line's history. The line will visit 76 ports in 29 countries, five of which are brand-new to Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity's 2009 Europe season includes six homeports, overnight stays in eight different ports, and five unique cruisetour options. Celebrity also will offer nine transatlantic sailings in 2009. The cruises open for sale today.
"Our guests have told us repeatedly that Europe is where they want to be, and they want to be there in style," said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. "This year, by offering more ships and itineraries in Europe than ever before -- some past favorites and some new stars, including Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox -- we're giving our guests a great deal of variety, and Europe really is theirs for the taking."
Five Celebrity Cruises ships will sail in Europe in 2009, including two ships currently under construction, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox. Joining them are Celebrity Century, which underwent a $55-million makeover in 2006, Celebrity Constellation, built in 2002, and Celebrity Summit, which launched in 2001.
With six different homeports in Europe for the season, including Amsterdam, Holland, Barcelona, Spain, Harwich and Southampton, England, and Rome and Venice, Italy, Celebrity's ships will sail much of the continent. Itineraries exploring Scandinavia and Russia, the Arctic Circle and North Cape, the Mediterranean, Israel and Egypt, and even transatlantic sailings, will offer guests a number of opportunities to get to know Europe. These include overnight, in-port stays that offer travel enthusiasts the opportunity to more thoroughly explore the culture of eight cities: Alexandria, Egypt, Copenhagen, Denmark, Istanbul and Kusadasi, Turkey, Rome, Italy, Stockholm, Sweden, and Venice, Italy.
Celebrity's 2009 Europe - New Stars
Celebrity will call on five new ports:
Antwerp, Belgium, located on the River Scheldt, 50 miles from thesea.
Ashdod, Israel's largest port, offering access to Jerusalem andTel Aviv and must-see sites such as Mount Zion, the Tomb of David,the Tomb of Judges and the Dead Sea.
Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, nestled in a broad natural baybetween the Mediterranean Sea and Carmel Mountain.
La Spezia, Italy, one of Italy's major harbors, located at thehead of La Spezia Gulf between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea,known for its numerous churches, museums, the Castle of SanGiorgio, public gardens and Art Nouveau-style villas.
Portofino, Italy, the famed town in the province of Genoa on theItalian Riviera, considered to be among the most beautifulMediterranean ports.
Celebrity Century will offer seven-night Western Mediterraneansailings roundtrip out of Barcelona from September 19-November 21.Celebrity's European itineraries have traditionally lasted 10 nightsor longer, and this shorter offering will give guests who may nothave enough vacation time for a longer sailing, the opportunity toenjoy Celebrity's Europe in a shorter format.
Celebrity Century will offer a 13-night "Best of Europe" sailingSeptember 6, that begins with an overnight stay in Amsterdam and theline's first call on Antwerp, Belgium.
From August 18 through October 23, Celebrity Equinox will sail 13-and 14-night "Ancient Empires" itineraries out of Rome, featuringcalls on Ashdod and Haifa, Israel, an overnight stay in Alexandria,Egypt, and ports throughout Greece, Turkey, and Italy.
Beginning May 4, Celebrity Solstice will sail 10- and 11-nightEastern Mediterranean itineraries roundtrip out of Rome, calling onports throughout Greece, Turkey, and Italy. The 11-night sailingsinclude overnight stays in Istanbul, Turkey.
Guests who sail on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox will enjoy Europe in a whole new way, as the ships will offer a resort-like experience at sea through features such as the industry's first Lawn Club, a half-acre country-club atmosphere featuring real, growing grass, 10 dining venues including several created by noted restaurant designer Adam Tihany, AquaClass, the line's new spa category of staterooms, the industry's first Hot Glass Show at sea, presented in collaboration with The Corning Museum of Glass, and larger, more intuitive staterooms influenced by a panel of five "boomer" women.
Celebrity's 2009 Europe - Past Favorites
Celebrity Century has increased the number of "Scandinavia andRussia" cruises roundtrip out of Amsterdam, with nine of theseitineraries scheduled between May and August 2009 (in 2008, CelebrityCentury will sail four Scandinavia and Russia itineraries). Thesevoyages feature an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia, andcalls in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark.
Celebrity Century's 12-night "Arctic Circle and North Cape"itinerary, offered June 26 and July 8 roundtrip out of Amsterdam,features calls on seven Norwegian ports, including the breathtakingGeiranger, which the line hasn't visited since 2006, back by populardemand.
Celebrity Constellation's 14-night transatlantic sailing from Harwichon September 5 will feature a stop in Reykjavik, Iceland, a countrynamed by National Geographic magazine as one of the world's topdestinations. This will be the first time Celebrity has called on anIcelandic port since 2004, the voyage, which ends in Cape Liberty(Bayonne), New Jersey, also features stops in France, Ireland,Scotland, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick.
Beginning May 10, Celebrity Summit will alternate 12- or 14-night"Classical Mediterranean" and "Mediterranean Legacies" sailingsbetween Venice and Barcelona, calling on ports in France, Italy,Greece, Croatia and Turkey, collectively.
Celebrity's 2009 Europe - Captivating Cruisetours
In 2009, Celebrity offers a variety of options to guests who wish to make the most of their time in Europe through cruisetours, a combined cruise and pre-voyage multi-night land journey package. Cruisetours are available for guests sailing on the following ships:
Celebrity Century and Celebrity Summit out of Barcelona(Mediterranean sailings)
Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Solstice out of Rome (Mediterraneansailings)
Celebrity Summit out of Venice (Mediterranean sailings)
Celebrity Equinox out of Southampton (Mediterranean sailings)
Celebrity Constellation out of Harwich (Northern Europe sailings)
Mediterranean cruisetours include the following:
New in 2009, a five-night "Venice, Florence and Rome" packagefeaturing two nights in Venice, one night in Florence and two nightsin Rome -- a popular "highlights of Italy" tour that gives guests atrue Italian experience.
The three-night "Italian Lakes, Verona, and Venice" cruisetour, whichincludes two nights in Lago Maggiore's Stresa, one night in Verona,and touring in Venice prior to boarding the ship. Guests on thiscruisetour enjoy a lake tour to the Borromean islands as well as theShakespearean city of Verona.
A four-night "Madrid and Barcelona" cruisetour, offering two nightsin Madrid, two nights in Barcelona, city tours in both locations, avisit to the ancient city of Toledo, and enough free time toexperience the true Spanish flair of these iconic cities.
Northern Europe cruisetours include the following:
A four-night "Paris and London" package, featuring two nights in eachcity and visits to major attractions such as Notre Dame and the Towerof London.
A three-night "Brussels and Amsterdam" cruisetour, with one night inBrussels, two nights in Amsterdam, a visit to the gothic city ofBruges and a private canal cruise through the Amsterdam waterways.
