After canceling 18 voyages in Asia last week for Celebrity Solstice and announcing it would be redeploying the 2008-built cruise ship to replace Celebrity Millennium in the Mexican Riviera with that vessel moving to the Caribbean.
For Celebrity Solstice, this includes five-, seven-, and eight-night itineraries from its homeport in Los Angeles. There will be a series of seven-night itineraries sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Celebrity Millennium.
Celebrity Solstice Redeployes on the Pacific Coast
It’s not the vibrant cities of South-East Asia. Still, with the beautiful Pacific coastline of the US, Canada, and Mexico, Celebrity Cruises has found a suitable replacement itinerary for the voyages the cruise line was forced to cancel later this year.
Celebrity Solstice will set sail on a series of sailings to the Mexican Riviera from its new homeport, Los Angeles. Guests have the choice of five-, seven-, and eight-night itineraries from September 2022 through April 2023.
Setting sail from Los Angeles, the cruises will call to some of the most popular destinations in Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta, Ensenada, and Mazatlán. On select voyages, guests will have the chance to experience the vibrant nightlife during overnight stops in Cabo San Lucas.
There will also be cruises up and down the entire US Pacific coast. Celebrity Cruises has released five voyages from Ensenada, Mexico, to Vancouver, British Columbia. These cruises include stops in San Francisco, Catalina Island, and Monterey.
Celebrity Solstice replaces Celebrity Millennium on the Pacific Coast, which has been redeployed to sail from Puerto Rico for a series of Caribbean cruises.
Celebrity Millennium to Sail the Caribbean
After she completes her summer season in Alaska, Celebrity Millennium, built in the year 2000 and recently renovated, will be sailing in the Caribbean sun. Starting in October this year through to December, these cruises will replace the voyages the ship was intended to sail on the Pacific coastline.
The seven-night itineraries will visit popular Caribbean ports such as St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Nassau. During the transit from Alaska to its new homeport in Puerto Rico, the ship will sail on a 15-day voyage of exploration that includes a passage of the Panama Canal.
Sailing from San Diego, the Millennium-class ship will visit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; and Oranjestad, Aruba, before reaching her final destination, San Juan, Puerto Rico, from where she will sail her Caribbean itineraries.
Guests booked on a Celebrity Millennium booking to Mexico will be automatically rebooked to a Celebrity Solstice sailing. Guests who do not wish to sail onboard Celebrity Solstice can request a full refund.
Celebrity Ship Shuffle
Even though the worst effects of the pandemic on the cruise industry have subsided, companies are still forced to make significant changes to itineraries, as we’ve seen in recent weeks. The change for Celebrity Solstice and Millennium comes from the poor outlook for cruising in Asia.
Celebrity Cruises was forced to cancel 18 voyages for Celebrity Solstice last week, saying:
“Due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the restart of international operations in the Asia region, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our Celebrity Solstice sailings in this part of the world. As a result, we will be canceling all Celebrity Solstice Asia sailings currently scheduled to depart September 16, 2022 through April 21, 2023.”
While Asia looked to be one of the front runners late in 2020 and early in 2021 to reopen its borders for cruise ships, the opposite seems to be true now.
Guests booked on one of the canceled voyages onboard Celebrity Solstice in Asia can “Lift and Shift” to a similar Asia sailing aboard Celebrity Solstice or Celebrity Millennium for the 2023-2024 season.
