Celestyal Cruises has announced that the cruise line will resume operations on May 29th from Piraeus, Athens. With the continued progress being made in the containment of the global Covid-19 pandemic, especially with the increasing vaccine rollout throughout the world, and the line’s continuous contact with European and Greek health authorities, as well as the Greek government, Celestyal will resume operations with its 7-night Idyllic Aegean itinerary.
The start of the season was earlier planned for the end of April; the new recommencement date is in accordance with the recently announced Greek Ministry of Tourism roadmap to opening Greece to tourism and cruising for the 2021 season. The 7-night Idyllic Aegean itinerary starts at $729, pp, and will call upon Kusadasi, Rhodes, Santorini, Lavrion (for Temple of Poseidon), Mykonos, Milos and Crete.
Recommence operations will begin with the Celestyal Crystal. As more countries reopen with increasing demand, the company will announce the 2021 deployment of the remaining fleet, until then the Celestyal Crystal will utilize two embarkation ports, Piraeus and Lavrion in Athens, providing the ability to offer shorter 3- and 4-night Idyllic itineraries in addition to the 7-night sailing. The shorter 3- and 4-night sailings will operate on a Wednesday from Lavrion and Saturday from Piraeus respectively.
“We are extremely encouraged by the increased global distribution and effectiveness of the vaccine and by the positive response we are receiving from our partners and guests around the world,” said Celestyal Cruises CEO, Chris Theophilides, in a press statement. “We will continue to monitor the positive progress of the healthy reopening of both Greece and cruising while continuing to liaise with the European and Greek health authorities to ensure that we continue to provide a safe and responsible operation for our guests, crew and the communities we serve. Everyone at Celestyal is extremely excited to return to sailing very soon and to extend our award-winning, warm and welcoming Greek hospitality.”
Guests currently booked on the cancelled late April through May voyages will have the option to receive a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100 percent of the amount paid, plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 20 percent of the actual cruise fare paid. Celestyal has also announced that it will allow guests currently holding FCCs, as well as guests about to receive FCCs, the opportunity to apply the FCC towards Celestyal’s soon-to-be-announced 2023 itineraries in addition to 2021 and 2022 itineraries.
For more information or to book visit: celestyal.com.
