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Celebrity Ascent Completes Sea Trials

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The Celebrity Ascent has successfully completed its sea trials, according to a statement from the company.

The ship’s captains, brothers Demetrios and Tasos Kafetzis oversaw the tests conducted in the Bay of Biscay near the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, where the Celebrity Ascent has been under construction.

Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, the Celebrity Ascent is offering a four-night Western Caribbean preview voyage on November 22, 2023, followed by a three-night Bahamas preview getaway on November 26, 2023.

A seven-night Eastern Caribbean maiden voyage will depart the South Florida port on December 3, 2023, kicking off the ship’s inaugural Caribbean season, featuring seven-night itineraries rotating between popular Eastern and Western Caribbean destinations such as the Bahamas, Mexico and Grand Cayman; and San Juan, Tortola and St. Kitts, respectively.

Then, the Celebrity Ascent will head to the Mediterranean for a 2024 summer season of sailings, including a nine-night Italian Riviera and France itinerary; and the 12-night Best of Greece and Italy itinerary.

Weinstein: ‘Costa On The Rebound’

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Costa Favolosa entering the port of Liverpool, photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr Account)

“Costa is one of those brands that’s really on the rebound,” said Josh Weinstein, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation, speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

Weinstein credits Costa President Mario Zanetti with leading the turnaround of the Italian brand, which is launching a new marketing campaign.

“Their research based on their market and the segment that they’re trying to hit in their market was all about experiences and leaning into particular messaging in particular ways to convey it because the product for Costa is already fantastic,” Weinstein said.

He continued that Costa and AIDA posted solid numbers for August, with occupancy coming in at 119 per cent, above the 109 per cent average number Carnival reported for its nine brands.

“In fact, in Q3, AIDA and Costa delivered higher yields than 2019,” he said, noting they did this with the absence of Saint Petersburg in what would have been high-yielding Baltic itineraries.

Carnival: ‘Fuel Surcharge Not Off The Table

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Carnival Pride passing the Seacombe Ferry in Liverpool photo credit Spacejunkie2

With fuel prices on the rise, a fuel surcharge is not off the table at Carnival Corporation, according to Josh Weinstein, president and CEO.

Cruise lines typically reserve a right to add a fuel surcharge to ticket pricing, should the price of oil go over a set amount. Most cruise companies have rarely used this option

“It’s certainly not off the table. We wouldn’t take anything off of the table. It’s not something we’re planning to implement in the near-term, although that could certainly change,” said Weinstein, speaking on the company’s third quarter earnings call.

“There are certainly considerations that have to be made about what’s the norm in society with the expectations of our customer,” he continued. “Obviously, you don’t go retroactively too. So you’re talking about forward bookings.

“But I wouldn’t take anything off the table. I would reiterate, though, even a fuel surcharge is temporary. And really, the one thing that we can do, no matter what, is use less fuel and that’s where our focus is. And we estimate it saved us about $375 million on the bottom line this year versus what our profile looks like in 2019 because of all those efforts.”