Celestyal’s New ‘Journey’ Cruise Ship to Set Sail from September

Celestyal Cruises Chief Operating Officer Capt. George Koumpenas, Greek Deputy Minister of Tourism Sofia Zacharaki, Celestyal Cruises CEO Chris Theophilides and Celestyal Cruises Director of Public Relations Frosso Zaroulea.

Celestyal, a company among the top choices for cruise travellers to the Greek Islands and the Eastern Mediterranean, announced Wednesday that its newest cruise ship – the Celestyal Journey – will be ready to take to the seas this autumn.

The vessel is the third in the company’s fleet and will initially carry out the Celestyal Crystal’s highly popular seven-night “Idyllic Aegean” cruise.

The Celestyal Journey will take to the Aegean sea from September 2 following an extensive 20-million-euro refurbishment and technical maintenance overhaul.

“It has always been our strategic goal to renew and modernize our fleet and we are excited to see this come together with the arrival of the Celestyal Journey,” said Celestyal Cruises CEO Chris Theophilides while presenting the new vessel during a media event in Athens.

One of the key features on the Celestyal Journey will be the large number of more spacious and higher class cabins. The 1,260-passenger mid-size cruise ship will feature 630 cabins, 149 of which have balconies – three times as many cabins as Celestyal has previously had on its seven-night cruises. Of the 149 cabins with balconies, 120 are Junior Suites, 28 are Grand Suites and one is the spacious Penthouse Concept Suite.

Celestyal Cruises CEO Chris Theophilides.

According to Theophilides, the newest addition to Celestyal’s fleet continues the company’s tradition of operating mid-sized cruise ships that travels passengers to destinations where larger cruise ships are unable to.

“The Celestyal Journey will offer our guests more premium cabins with balconies, a greater selection of dining and bar areas, public areas and open decks ideal for Mediterranean cruises,” he said.

Deputy minister: Celestyal’s offer to maritime tourism development is essential

Attending the event, Greek Deputy Minister of Tourism Sofia Zacharaki spoke highly of Celestyal’s contribution to the development of maritime tourism in Greece by homeporting in Piraeus, Lavrio and Thessaloniki and promoting Greek destinations around the world through its cruises.

Greek Deputy Minister of Tourism Sofia Zacharaki.

Referring to Celestyal’s latest customer satisfaction survey (16,260 questionnaires during April 4, 2022 – January 4, 2023), which saw the company achieve a 93.5 percent performance rate for the total cruise experience it offers, Zacharaki praised the cruise line’s efforts in promoting Greek products on board and Greek destinations through its offered excursions.

During her speech, Zacharaki expressed optimism for the 2023 tourism season and the Greek cruise sector.

She added that the government will continue to improve Greece’s infrastructure for the development of cruise tourism and also contribute to its promotion.

Celestyal’s 2022 performance – Future plans

Celestyal Cruises Chief Operating Officer Capt. George Koumpenas.

During his presentation, Celestyal’s CEO said the company’s goal this year is to return to 2019 levels and to have 120,000 passengers travel on the company’s cruises.

“Bookings are at a very good pace and so far they already are exceeding the total number of passengers that traveled last year with Celestyal,” Theophilides said, adding that Celestyal is moving steadily towards a full return to normality.

According to Celestyal’s figures for 2022, the company’s total annual contribution to the Greek economy is estimated to have reached some 91 million euros last year, of which 32 million euros were direct operating costs and the remaining 59 million euros coming from annual passenger spending.

Last year, despite travel restrictions in place due to the Covid pandemic, Celestyal recorded 63 percent occupancy on its ships and accommodated 72,373 passengers, compared to 120,000 in 2019, from 136 nationalities.

Photo source: Celestyal Cruises

The company’s two cruise ships operated in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, with the majority of travelers for 2022 coming from the US, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Mexico, Bulgaria, Brazil, France and the United Kingdom.

In 2022, the company used the ports of Piraeus, Lavrio, Thessaloniki and Limassol as home ports.

Of the 72,373 passengers that traveled with Celestyal last year, 29 percent came from domestic and neighboring markets, 53 percent from laung-haul markets and 18 percent from nearby markets. A closer look at the data presented during the event showed that 61 percent of Celestyal’s passengers last year were female. Another 14 percent of passengers traveled solo on Celestyal’s cruises last year, a trend that is on the rise.

In 2022, Celestyal recorded 460 calls to Greek ports, with 58,411 passengers starting and finishing their cruise at Greek ports (Piraeus, Lavrio, Thessaloniki). The annual expenditure of passengers at home ports and destinations amounted to some 59 million euros. Broken down, 36 million euros was related to passenger spending at ports of call, with the average spend per visitor estimated at 120 euros, and 23.5 million euros came from spending by home porting passengers, given that the average spend per visitor amounts to approximately 400 euros.

Theophilides added that Celestyal’s strategic development last year also focused on the Bulgarian market, since tourists from the Balkan countries travel throughout the year, including during the winter, which “contributes to the extension of the tourism season and is consistent with the goal of the Greek government”.

Plans for 2024 and beyond

Referring to future plans, Theophilides said that Celestyal in 2024 will introduce a pilot route, which will include Corfu for the first time. Celestyal in 2025 is expected to begin routes in the Ionian. Moreover, the company for the first time will add Chania to its itineraries and also plans to travel again to destinations such as Chios and Kos.

Celestyal’s CEO also added that a greater focus will be put on attracting more passengers from long-haul markets such as North America, considering that over 50 percent of cruise passengers worldwide are Americans.

Greek market

Regarding the domestic market, Theophilides said that “more and more” Greek passengers are opting for cruise travel and there are prospects for further development.

In 2019, some 20,000 Greeks booked a cruise with Celestyal, which is a little over 50 percent of the total number of Greeks who choose a cruise for their holiday. In 2021, some 27 percent of the cruise line’s passengers were Greek travelers, up from 10 percent in 2019.

Theophilides highlighted that the “problem” with the Greeks is that they are “last minute bookers” and tend to miss out on special cruise travel offers that are announced even a year in advance.

“But as a market, the Greek market is maturing, the ‘word of mouth’ promotion is very strong and we are seeing a steady rise of Greeks taking cruises,” he said.

The Celestyal Journey

Photo source: Celestyal Cruises

Following its inaugural “Idyllic Aegean” cruise on September 2, the Celestyal Journey in October will follow the unique “In the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul” itinerary and then the award-winning seven-day “Three Continents” cruise, visiting Greece, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. Special cruises are also planned for Christmas and New Years.

The new vessel’s name, Celestyal Journey, aims to symbolize the exploration, discovery and progress that are part of the Greek mentality and seamanship.

According to the company, the term “Journey” embodies a spirit of ambition and adventure and Celestyal’ desire to take its passengers further, while bringing them closer to the destinations it visits.

Celestyal was applauded as one of the best cruise lines of the year, winning the Best Service award at the Cruise Critic Pick’s Editors Awards and the Best Itinerary award for its “Three Continents” at the Cruise Excellence Awards.