Celebrity pulls cruise ship from Europe for 2010

mercedes · May 5, 2009

Add the Celebrity Solstice to the list of cruise ships staying closer-to-home in 2010 as the economic downturn continues.

Celebrity Cruises says the 2,850-passenger vessel, originally scheduled to sail in Europe for the summer of 2010, instead will remain in the Caribbean sailing out of easy-to-reach Ft. Lauderdale.

The switch comes less than two weeks after the line said another ship, the Celebrity Century, also would stay in the Caribbean year-round in 2010, sailing shorter cruises out of Miami.

The line hasn't offered year-round cruises in the Caribbean since 2004.

The economic downturn of the past year has caused a shift in cruise bookings to more affordable, closer-to-home destinations and prompted cruise lines to pull vessels from far-flung regions.

Under its new schedule, the much-ballyhooed Solstice, which debuted last year, will sail alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises in 2010 roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale.

Celebrity says the Solstice's shift to the Caribbean will precipitate several other changes to its European lineup for 2010. For starters, the soon-to-debut Celebrity Equinox will take over the 10- and 11-night Mediterranean sailings from Rome previously planned for the Solstice. The 12-night voyages previously announced for Equinox between Barcelona and Venice in 2010, meanwhile, have been canceled.

The European sailings previously announced for Celebrity Eclipse, a new Celebrity ship debuting in 2010, and Celebrity Constellation remain unchanged.

Celebrity says it is personally contacting all passengers with bookings affected by changes. Passengers and travel agents with questions can call the line at 888-281-9343.