Celestyal has added Croatia, Montenegro and Italy to its 2024 programme owing to their "consistent popularity" with agents after temporarily pulling its popular Three Continents itinerary due to the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Lee Haslett (pictured) said Celestyal would bring back its Three Continents sailing once Israel was safe for passengers (Credit: Celestyal)
The 1,260-passenger Celestyal Journey, which launched in September, will operate a new seven-night Heavenly Adriatic itinerary and the seven-night Idyllic Aegean next season among other itineraries.
Departing on 2 March, the Heavenly Adriatic sailing will feature full days in Kefalonia, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Bari and Katakolo. Celestyal Journey will operate Idyllic Aegean departures on 9 and 15 March.
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Celestyal has added Croatia, Montenegro and Italy to its 2024 programme owing to their "consistent popularity" with agents after temporarily pulling its popular Three Continents itinerary due to the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Lee Haslett (pictured) said Celestyal would bring back its Three Continents sailing once Israel was safe for passengers (Credit: Celestyal)
The 1,260-passenger Celestyal Journey, which launched in September, will operate a new seven-night Heavenly Adriatic itinerary and the seven-night Idyllic Aegean next season among other itineraries.
Departing on 2 March, the Heavenly Adriatic sailing will feature full days in Kefalonia, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Bari and Katakolo. Celestyal Journey will operate Idyllic Aegean departures on 9 and 15 March.
The Greek Island specialist will only offer the Heavenly Adriatic itinerary once next year, but plans to bring it back in 2025.
As part of the line’s Black Friday promotion, prices for the Heavenly Adriatic sailings start from £449 while the Idyllic Aegean leads in at £529.
Celestyal Journey will then operate a series of Aegean voyages up to December.
The Three Continents itinerary features Israeli port Ashdod, which prompted the line to cancel the sailing next year over safety fears amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Chief commercial officer Lee Haslett told TTG: “We really do take the time to listen to feedback, and Italy, Croatia and Montenegro are consistently popular with the trade and our guests.
“As we all know, the conflict in Israel and Palestine has meant we’ve had to make changes. We would normally start the season with Three Continents but we’ve been impacted by the conflict.
“Three Continents will return but only when customers feel safe and when our security team feels it is safe. Like most cruise lines, we’re going to review the situation in Israel.”
Celestyal is offering customers booked on the cancelled Three Continents sailing next year a free cruise that can be redeemed any time over the next three years.
The line also confirmed it will protect agent commission on all rebooked cruises. “We’re seeing phenomenal agent growth in agent business year-on-year,” Haslett added. “Our business for UK agents is over 100% up year-on-year.
“It’s fair to say that Celestyal has under invested in the UK market in the past.”
The line’s vice-president of business development, Janet Parton, who joined the line in the summer, was hailed by Haslett for providing the small team with “renewed” focus on the trade and encouraging new agents to sell Celestyal’s cruises.
“We’ve seen a double-digit increase in new agent partners that were not working with us before,” he added.
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