Celestyal Cruises to Pause Until 2021

A popular Mediterranean small ship cruise line is pressing pause until 2021. In their announcement this morning, Celestyal Cruises made the difficult decision to pause operation until March 6, 2021 for their entire fleet. 

The cruise line had plans to return to operation after July 30, 2020, but due to global travel restrictions, the date had to be pushed back into next year. 

Mediterranean Cruises in 2021

According to Celestyal Cruises’ chief commercial officer Leslie Peden, the decision to delay a return was based on the health and safety of their guests. 

“We felt that as a company, we have already put our travel partners and guests through enough date changes on when cruising could return safely. By voluntarily pausing operations until our scheduled departures of next year, Celestyal will be better positioned to offer more clarity and certainty to our valued partners and guests, as well as peace of mind. We will now shift our full attention to developing both 2021 and 2022 business where we are already seeing encouraging signs of pent-up demand and be well prepared to implement all enhanced health protocols that will ultimately be established by the EU and the countries where we operate. While we appreciate and share in the disappointment this decision has on our guests, their wellbeing, as well as that of our loyal crew and the local communities we visit is always our top priority.”

Peden also noted that the cruise line’s main busy season runs from the Spring through early Fall so this cruising season was all but lost anyway. 

New Itineraries for 2021 

A few weeks ago, Celestyal Cruises announced new itineraries for 20201, including a seven-night “Steps of Paul” itinerary, which traces the footsteps of St. Paul, the Apostle, across the Mediterranean. Passengers will visit St. Paul’s birthplace in what was once the Roman city of Tarsus and is now part of Turkey as well as St. Paul’s Tribune at the Vlatadon Monastery, Philippi, the prison where St. Paul and St. Sylas were held captive. Cruisers also have the opportunity to ride a cable car to the Acropolis in Pergamon as well as visit the ancient city of Ephesus. 

Have you cruised with Celestyal Cruises? Let us know about your experience!