Celebrity Cruises Announces New Deployment for Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Mercury

[JoeyandDavid]

Celebrity Cruises today announced new itineraries for Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Mercury, presenting guests with new cruise vacation options from the historic coastal cities of Baltimore, Maryland, and Charleston, South Carolina, along with the brand's popular Caribbean cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Correspondingly, the line announced plans to discontinue its Australia and New Zealand cruises previously scheduled for late-2009 and 2010 on Celebrity Millennium. "Australia and New Zealand are charming and beautiful destinations, and we're confident we'll return again as our brand and fleet grows," said Celebrity's President & CEO Dan Hanrahan. "Currently, though, our travel agent partners and guests have repeatedly said they want more options to sail with Celebrity from the Eastern seaboard, where our brand was founded, and still has a very large and loyal base of cruisers. So, we're pleased to present some very attractive new cruise vacations from that region."

The 2,038-guest Celebrity Millennium will cap its 2009 season in Alaska with cruises previously scheduled for the 1,898-guest Celebrity Mercury, offering more capacity on the popular sailings. The itineraries will reflect those previously announced for Celebrity Mercury, with the addition of a 12- night wine-themed cruise departing from Vancouver on September 28, 2009, followed by an eastbound, 16-night Panama Canal cruise on October 10, 2009, from San Diego to San Juan, where Celebrity Millennium will offer a series of 10- and 11-night Southern Caribbean cruises roundtrip from San Juan, beginning October 26, 2009. Ports of call on the Southern Caribbean itineraries include Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Curacao, Aruba, St. Croix, St. Kitts and Dominica, with slight variations between the 10- and 11-night sailings.

Guests with reservations on the sailings previously scheduled for Celebrity Mercury will be contacted and re-accommodated on the same sailing dates on Celebrity Millennium, at the rates paid.

CELEBRITY MERCURY OFFERS NEW OPTIONS ON THE EASTERN SEABOARD

Celebrity Mercury will sail a 17-night Panama Canal cruise from San Diego on October 23, 2009, ending in Baltimore. There, from November 2009 to February 2010, the ship will present a series of new 12-night Eastern Caribbean cruises visiting St. Thomas; St. Kitts; Antigua; St. Maarten, and Tortola, as well as four 9-night cruises visiting Charleston; Key West, Fla., and Cococay and Nassau, Bahamas.

Celebrity Mercury then will present a series of 10- and 11-night Eastern and Western Caribbean voyages from Charleston from February through April 2010, with visits to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Tortola on the eastern series, and Key West; Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Cozumel, Mexico, and Nassau on the western lineup.

The new itineraries on Celebrity Mercury replace the Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan previously scheduled from November 2009 to April 2010. Guests with affected bookings will be contacted and offered the option to be reaccommodated in like accommodations on identical Southern Caribbean itineraries on Celebrity Millennium at the rate paid.

Guests holding either individual or group reservations on Celebrity Millennium's previously scheduled Australia and New Zealand cruises between October 9, 2009 and March 22, 2010, will be offered the option to either re- book on Celebrity Millennium's Australia and New Zealand cruises between October 17, 2008 and April 12, 2009, subject to availability, at the prevailing rate, and will receive a $600 per-stateroom or $800 per-suite onboard credit. Alternatively, these guests may re-book Celebrity Millennium's new Panama Canal or Southern Caribbean sailings between October 10, 2009 and April 16, 2010, and receive a $200 per stateroom and $400 per suite onboard credit.

All guests and travel agent partners with affected bookings will be contacted by Celebrity Cruises. A special toll-free line also has been established to answer questions: 1-888-281-9343. The number is the same for both individual and group bookings. Any reservations on the late-2009 and early-2010 Celebrity Millennium sailings in Australia and New Zealand that have not been moved or cancelled by Friday, October 3, 2008, will be cancelled automatically.

[cruisetarp]

Great News - Baltimore is a very easy port to sail from and the long sail down Chesapeake Bay is great. Lots of things to see and do at the Inner Harbor - just a few minutes from where the ship docks. Will definately have to look into these cruises.

[JoeyandDavid]

I too thought it was good news.. now if they would only do the same thing on the west coast..

[DebbieandJerry]

We love Celebrity. We love Eastern/Western Caribbean. SW flies Tucson to Baltimore. Gotta look in to this. Thanks, Joey for always being on top of these changes.

[Longboysfan]

They used to go out of Baltimore a few years ago.

Charleston was a stop port for Horizon and Zenith as they moved to the caribbean.

They would do a 6 day Bermuda cruise out of there.