Celestyal Cruises has decided to postpone its fall and winter sailings and will resume operations in March 2022, as per the scheduled program. According to the cruise line, the decision was made due to the current travel restrictions, and the continuing evolution of additional restrictions coming into play across most source markets.
“We are confident our decision to postpone the fall and winter itineraries is the right one,” Celestyal Cruises’ CEO Chris Theophilides said in a written statement. “Celestyal continues to draw a large portion of our guests from a number of global source markets that each have their specific preferred travel period, and it became apparent to us that these core markets have become less interested in being inconvenienced by the current and ongoing travel restrictions in place—particularly for shorter duration trips in the fall and winter. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, we were one of the first cruise lines to pause our operation in reaction to the operating realities, and this is what we are also doing at this juncture.”
All named and paid individual guests impacted on 2021 sailings from September through December will have the option to receive full refunds or apply their deposits to 2022 or 2023 sailings with a 20 percent bonus value to be applied to their future sailing.
The news of postponement comes in with the announcement that Celestyal is on track to successfully complete its summer itineraries. The “Legendary Archipelago” on Celestyal Olympia and the adjusted “Idyllic Aegean” itinerary on Celestyal Crystal are scheduled to conclude on August 30 and August 28, respectively.
The line credits the enhanced health, safety and security protocols adopted by CLIA member lines for the resumption of its operations during the 2021 summer season, which is seen as an important first step in gradually returning to a more normalized operating environment.
For more information, visit www.celestyal.com.
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