Celebrity broadens its North American horizons for 2020
After years of criss-crossing over to Europe, I seem to find myself taking cruises that depart from closer and closer to home. It turns out I’m not alone: North Americans are increasingly trying to cruise to places that can be easily accessed from places that don’t require long transoceanic flights. And while overseas travel is still very much in demand, cruise lines are starting to tailor their future itineraries to reflect this change.
Celebrity Cruises (cruise. center/celebrity) is one such line. Celebrity is rolling out an expanded program of itineraries in North America for the 202021 season that includes such mainstay destinations as Alaska, the Caribbean, Canada and New England.
But what I find really fascinating is that Celebrity is also expanding its more exotic offerings, including Greenland, Bermuda and other ports of call.
Over on the East Coast, the 2001-built Celebrity Summit is getting an entirely new mandate: to expand its itineraries to 19 destinations within seven different countries. Many of the itineraries will offer extended stays in port, and a total of 39 ports will offer at least a 12-hour stay. Celebrity Summit will offer seven- and 10-night cruises that explore the charms of Bermuda from Cape Liberty (Bayonne) in New Jersey. These departures are notable for offering what Celebrity is calling its Statue of Liberty Experience — a full circumnavigation of New York’s iconic landmark — before heading out to sea.
Celebrity is also sending Celebrity Summit out on a pair of unique transatlantic voyages in August 2020. The first will sail from Cape Liberty to Dublin, with the return transatlantic crossing operating from Dublin to Celebrity Summit’s new home port of Boston.
From Boston, the ship will also operate an expanded season of 12-night journeys to New England and the Canadian Maritimes, replacing the weeklong runs out of New Jersey for which Celebrity Summit was perhaps best known.
Over on the West Coast, Celebrity is sending three ships to Alaska and British Columbia in 2020.
Celebrity Eclipse and Celebrity Millennium will be based in Vancouver, with the former offering weeklong cruises sailing round-trip from Canada Place to Icy Strait Point, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau and Ketchikan. Celebrity Millennium, meanwhile, takes up the “one-way” runs between Vancouver and Seward.
Celebrity Solstice heads to Seattle, where it will sail weeklong voyages to Ketchikan, Endicott Arm, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria. Repositioning voyages will also be offered at the start and end of the Alaska season for those looking to explore the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States by sea.
That all sounds like fun to me. But I’ve got my eye on another special sailing for next year, one that I’ll personally be hosting aboard Celebrity Reflection.
Departing Feb. 21, 2020 — a Friday — from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this cruise will spend three full days in New Orleans for the spectacular festival that is Mardi Gras.
After that, Celebrity Reflection carries on to cruise the Western Caribbean, with stops in George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. It’s unique as far as itineraries go, and a great way to explore the Caribbean and take in Mardi Gras at the same time. You can visit cruise.center/ mardigras if you’re sufficiently intrigued.
In the past, I’d felt as though some of Celebrity’s itineraries had stalled out, with ships doing the “same old, same old.” Not anymore. Celebrity’s cool and unique voyages for this year and beyond are proof that the company is pulling out all the stops — at home and abroad.
Happy cruising.