Tag Archives: Aruba

Celebrity Announces June Caribbean Comeback from St. Maarten

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Celebrity Cruises announced its return cruising today as the Celebrity Millennium will homeport in St. Maarten starting on June 5.

Beginning March 25, guests can book the new seven-night itineraries departing through August.

The ship will sail two different weeklong itineraries. One will call on Aruba, Curaçao and Barbados and a second itinerary will call on Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados.

The ship will sail with the vaccinated crew and will be available to vaccinated adult guests and children under the age of 18 with a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of embarkation, according to a press release.

Guests can take advantage of special air and sea pricing offering exceptional savings on all Summer 2021 St. Maarten sailings starting at $1,999 per person for a veranda stateroom. 

Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said: “Returning to the Caribbean after more than a year away is such a significant moment for us. It marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone. We have been in constant contact with the leadership of St. Maarten these past months to support each other and share learnings and best practices. That we’re able to offer people the opportunity to safely vacation onboard the revolutionized Celebrity Millennium, is incredible, and that we will sail from the magical island of St. Maarten is very special. I am forever grateful for the support and collaboration of the St. Maarten government.”

“Having a major cruise line such as Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises homeport here is a significant economic milestone for St. Maarten. It’s a historic agreement, the fruit of continuous dialogue and a testament to the strength of our longstanding relationship,” Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmila de Weever declared. “Celebrity Cruises homeporting here will help rejuvenate our economy and drive opportunities for our people. I would like to thank the management team at the Royal Caribbean Group for their commitment to St. Maarten and their confidence in the Ministry of TEATT as a reliable and responsible partner. I look forward to the successful re-launch of their Caribbean cruising,” Minister de Weever concluded.

Celebrity to add overnight port stays on long Caribbean cruises

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Celebrity Cruises said it will add an overnight stay to the itinerary of Caribbean cruises of 10 days or longer, starting in January 2016. The decision affects 43 cruises, said Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales, trade support and services.

Ritzenthaler stressed that overnights are typically a feature of cruises outside the Caribbean, so Celebrity is breaking ground with the move.

“This gives us the ability to say we have more overnights in the Caribbean than any cruise line in the industry,” Ritzenthaler said. “While overnights have been a trend in the marketplace in Europe and in Asia, there really hasn’t been a movement and we believe we are a leader in this initiative.”

The destinations where overnights are planned include Aruba, Barbados, Cartagena, Cozumel, Curacao and St. Maarten. Ritzenthaler said they are among the highest-rated destinations in the Caribbean by guests.

“Consumer and trade research indicates this is something they desire,” Ritzenthaler said.

Of Celebrity’s 10 ships, five are scheduled to be in the Caribbean in the first quarter of 2016, but not all do itineraries of 10 days or longer.

Celebrity has been selling the 2016 Caribbean winter season since the fall of 2014 and cruises have been booking well, Ritzenthaler said. Now booked guests will get the bonus of an overnight stay. “This will be a really wonderful gift for these folks,” she said. “This will be something that will be a really nice opportunity for them. We think it will be a differentiator.”

Carnival Freedom passengers sound off

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By Tom Stieghorst
*InsightI was aboard the Carnival Freedom on an eight-day cruise through the Caribbean last week. The ship was fresh out of a drydock and sported the new Camp Ocean children’s play areas.

At the conclusion of the cruise I asked 10 passengers, or couples, about the highlights and lowlights of their cruise.

The passengers ranged in age from young adult to retired. Several were African-American, two were Hispanic, and they came from seven states, including Utah and California. Three were from Florida.

A few general impressions stood out. Overall, the satisfaction level was pretty high. Several struggled to find anything negative to say, and no one was more negative than positive.*TomStieghorst

The excursions were one highlight for most of those interviewed, especially the tour guides. If there was a complaint it was that the excursions, and the port calls in general, went by too quickly.

“A little more time in port would have been great,” said Danilo Martell of Corona, Calif.

Although Grand Turk, the Dominican Republic, Aruba and Curacao each had their individual followings, Sarah Hoetzlein of Pittsburgh said the 11 p.m. departure from Curacao made that her favorite.

“I would love it if they stop later, so you have some night time,” she said. At other ports, she said, the beach excursion “is all you have time to do.”

Several mentioned the entertainment as a highlight, including Diana Jensen of Salt Lake City, who said the production shows were “the best thing on the ship.”

Others mentioned “sharing time with friends” and “there’s always something to do” as highlights and the level of service got high marks, except for the sea day brunches where the staff was “nonattentive” and the line to get in was long at times.

Several mentioned that they would like more food choice in the “tween times” after major meals, when the lido deck buffet is closed and deli sandwiches or pizza are the culinary offerings.

Katie Kivett of Nashville appreciated that Carnival is one of the few lines that allows children under 2 into the babysitting program, but didn’t like that her 15-month-old son was not allowed in the pool.

Other lowlights: motion sickness, the boarding process stalled and no one offered an explanation, there’s not enough to do at night for nondrinkers, some of the food was just “OK.”

Other highlights included the size of the beds, windows, closets and drawer space in the forward-facing cabins on the lido deck, the abundance of high-chair and crib accommodations for infants, the classes, casino and art auctions, and the dune buggy, power snorkel and catamaran excursions in Grand Turk, La Romana and elsewhere.