Celestyal Cruises is making several moves, from debuting its first Western Mediterranean season aboard Celestyal Discovery to introducing new in-cabin guest experience tablets and recognizing its top-producing advisors through its Stars of Excellence program.
Plus, John Diorio, the cruise line’s VP & Managing Director, North America, is in the process of assembling the line’s first-ever travel advisory board. During a virtual media briefing, Diorio explained the vision for the board: “We’re gonna lean into them—helping us with how to improve our trade program; better communication as we think about itinerary deployment and policy changes. We want their feedback in helping guide those decisions.”
He noted, too, that he’s targeting anywhere between five and seven advisors for the board, adding, “I wanted to have a good representation of the different types of agencies that are out there—whether you’re with a host or you’re doing it on your own; whether you focus on groups or FIT. [That way] we’ve got a nice blend.”
New Western Med Sailing
The line’s first dedicated Western Mediterranean season will feature the 14-night Mediterranean Odyssey: Spain, Portugal & Morocco sailing that combines Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with 14 maiden calls across the region. Let clients know that it includes overnight stays in Barcelona (Tarragona) and Lisbon, not to mention extended times in select ports.
“We’re really excited about these new itineraries,” Diorio said. “It really leans even more into us being just purely an authentic Mediterranean immersive cruise line.”
The itinerary can be split as a 7-night voyage sailing either Barcelona (Tarragona) to Lisbon or Lisbon to Barcelona (Tarragona). On the flipside, clients with time on their hands can add the 8-night Mediterranean Riviera sailing to the Mediterranean Odyssey to create a 22-night voyage, or even combine this with an existing 4-night Iconic Greek Islands sailing for a 26-night voyage.
For the 2026-27 winter season, Celestyal Discovery will sail from her homeport in Athens to Barcelona on Nov. 28, 2026. She will then operate two Mediterranean Odyssey voyages before her return repositioning departing Jan. 2, 2027. For the 2027-28 winter season, the first repositioning will depart Athens on Nov. 19, 2027. The ship will then operate six Mediterranean Odyssey voyages, before her return repositioning departing Barcelona (Tarragona) on Feb. 19, 2028.
Investing in the Onboard Experience
As for the onboard experience, Diorio highlighted the cruise line’s enhanced retail offering through its partnership with Harding+, with brands ranging from L’Occitane, Rituals and Lacoste to Tom Ford, Coccinelle and Citizen.
And just in is the announcement that the line has introduced in-cabin tablets on Celestyal Discovery provided by SuitePad (it was rolled out on Journey in January 2026). The tablets allow passengers to make service requests and purchases via the onboard shops, order room service, request a cabin upgrade and reserve tables at specialty restaurants. They can also access essential information including deck plans and onboard entertainment schedules, replacing printed schedules and flyers.
A Focus on Trade Partners
Diorio noted that their trade partners in North America are essential to the success of the cruise line and he’s been working hard to make sure that they are front and center. With that, he noted that when advisors “think about taking customers to the Mediterranean, I want them to obviously think of Celestyal first. There’s nobody that is more authentically Mediterranean than Celestyal.
“As we think about how we get the trade educated and we think about what their customers need to know about us, there are really three things. It’s the heartfelt journeys that [make] you feel like you’re at home when you’re on our ships because of the boutiqueness of our ships. It’s the places we take you—we call that ‘Icons and Rising Star’ destinations. We take you to those amazing iconic destinations like Mykonos and Santorini; however, it’s those off-the-beat-path destinations that we can go to, like Milos and Patmos, that truly make that authentically Mediterranean experience one of a kind. And then of course, once we get you there, it’s all the amazing things we’ll do with you when we get you there.
“Our shore excursions are such a big part of the experience with our brand and advisors actually get paid commission on them. The trade does a really great job for us in pre-selling shore excursions,” adding that, ”North America for our brand continues to be the market that is driving the company’s business.”
