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Celebrity Sets New Deployment for Millennium, Mercury

Celebrity Cruises discontinued its Australia and New Zealand programs previously scheduled for late 2009 and 2010 on Celebrity Millennium. Instead, new deployment was announced for Millennium and Celebrity Mercury, including departures from Baltimore, Md., and Charleston, S.C., and Caribbean cruises from San Juan. “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 and 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-passenger Celebrity Millennium will cap its 2009 season in Alaska with cruises previously scheduled for the 1,898-passenger 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 Sept. 28, 2009, followed by a 16-night Panama Canal cruise on Oct. 10, 2009, from San Diego to San Juan. There, Millennium will offer 10- and 11-night Southern Caribbean cruises roundtrip from San Juan, beginning Oct. 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 Mercury will be contacted and re-accommodated on the same sailing dates on Millennium, at the rates paid.

Celebrity Mercury will sail a 17-night Panama Canal cruise from San Diego on Oct. 23, 2009, ending in Baltimore. There, from November 2009 to February 2010, the ship will operate new 12-night Eastern Caribbean cruises visiting St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Maarten and Tortola, as well as four nine-night cruises visiting Charleston, Key West and CocoCay and Nassau, Bahamas. Mercury then will operate 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, Belize City, Cozumel, and Nassau on the western lineup.

The new itineraries on 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 like accommodations on identical Southern Caribbean itineraries on Celebrity Millennium at the rate paid. Guests holding individual or group reservations on Celebrity Millennium’s previously scheduled Australia and New Zealand cruises between Oct. 9, 2009 and March 22, 2010, can re-book on Millennium’s Australia and New Zealand cruises between Oct. 17 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 rebook Millennium’s new Panama Canal or Southern Caribbean sailings between Oct. 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. A toll-free line also has been established to answer questions 888-281-9343. 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 Oct. 3 will be cancelled automatically. For more information, call 800-437-3111 or visit www.celebritycruises.com.

Article courtesy of Travel Pulse.